Harry Potter and the Power of Felix Felicis
by KRJ0792XX1
Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen when Harry attempts to use something that he is not entirely familiar with, and what consequences will arise from such actions?
1. Chapter 1: First Day Back

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, moments, or plots from the books in the Harry Potter universe or anything that's written by JK Rowling. I do not make any money on this either. This is purely for my benefit and nothing else.

Note: I try to use themes and moments from the books and movies of the Harry Potter Universe, but I don't heavily borrow from either. If it's a direct moment from the books I will mention it, otherwise I will not do so. The stories I write may be OOC and that's fine. I just want to interpret the story as I see fit.

Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen?

 **Chapter 1: First Day Back**

On the morning of their first day back at Hogwarts for their sixth year, Harry, Hermione and Ron were eating breakfast in the Great Hall and were going to receive their new schedules for the term in just a few moments. Harry and Ron of course didn't mind what class they went to first, as long as it was not DADA now being taught by Snape. Hermione however was anxious.

"Honestly Hermione it's just classes. You'd think you'd be used to them by now," said Ron.

Hermione shot Ron a glaring look that sent shivers down his spine.

"Well of course you wouldn't care Ronald since you barely managed to get 7 OWLS from your tests last year! I want to start off this year with something that is not DADA since its always my worst subject!" Hermione stated.

"But Hermione, you got an E on that exam," said Harry. "You can't be the best at everything, because then what would Ron and I have to show for it?"

Harry could tell that Hermione was slightly put off by this as she looked down and resumed eating breakfast. However, he tried to make her see reason.

"Look Hermione you really don't have to make a big deal about it okay? You're brilliant and anyone would be happy to receive the scores you did. Don't let it get you down! Besides everyone knows you're the smartest witch of the age!" said Harry.

Even though Hermione said nothing to him, Harry could see the sides of her lips form into a slight smile at that comment. He always knew what to say to cheer her up, but all of that convincing was squashed when Ron spoke and said:

"Ya.. Wha Hawwy sad" as he was chewing his food rather loudly so that most of the entire Great Hall heard him.

Hermione was now beyond annoyed at Ron and began her fidgeting and anxious routine all over again. After a few more minutes of fidgeting, it was starting to get on Harry's nerves so he tried to distract himself from his two best friends when he noticed something farther down the Gryffindor table.

It was Ginny. Specifically Ginny and her boyfriend Dean. They were kissing.

Harry felt like a ton of knots were gathering up in his stomach. It figures that he had just begun to fall in love with Ginny the moment that she ended hooking up with a brand new boyfriend. Oh how he wished that he was the one kissing her instead of watching from afar while some bloke made out with her. Even though Harry knew it was wrong to try and break the two of them up, he didn't feel as bad once he saw the two of them kissing for a few minutes straight.

Harry turned back to his food and realized he was not hungry anymore. Before Harry had time to get up and leave to avoid seeing Ginny once again, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"Ah Granger, Weasley, and Potter. Here are your new school schedules" said McGonagall.

Hermione's eyes widened and she almost tore the poor professor's arm off after realizing that that's what was in her hand.

Ron was clearly annoyed at this point and stated "Really Hermione you are mental" and began reading his schedule. With that he began heading off to his first class: a free period. Which, to Ron Weasley, meant practicing for the Quidditch tryouts that were scheduled to happen in a few weeks time.

Before Harry could find out what was in store for him that morning, McGonagall spoke once again.

"Potter if you would, can I speak to you privately for a moment?"

"Sure Professor. I'll see you later Hermione." said Harry.

Hermione would have said something but she was lost in thought as she began gathering her things to the sixth year's potions class.

Harry shrugged, got up from his seat, and began walking behind McGonagall up to the front of the Great Hall. As he passed Ginny and Dean, it took all of his strength not to tackle Dean to the ground and pound the living daylights out of him. Before he kept wishing disastrous harm on to his fellow Gryffindor, McGonagall chose that moment to speak up.

"Potter I noticed that you have a free period this morning on your schedule and was wondering why you decided to drop Potions?"

Harry looked at the Professor questioningly as he answered with "Yes I dropped Potions, but I figured I didn't need it anymore since I got an "O" on my OWLS last year!"

"I thought your ambition was to become an Auror, Potter." said McGonagall.

"Yes Professor it is, but I received that "O" when Professor Snape was teaching and ..."

Professor McGonagal proceeded to cut him off at that point.

"... and Professor Slughorn now runs the class and would love to accept new additions to his sixth year class this morning."

Harry groaned a little but decided to take McGonagal's advice and enroll himself in the 6th year potion's class. As he began walking over to the dungeons, McGonagal called to him again and asked Harry to fetch Mr. Weasley from the Quidditch pitch to bring to the potions class as well.

Even though Harry was slightly more annoyed with McGonagal, he couldn't help but smile as the thought of Ron making his "disappointment face" and being forced into another potions class again.

Once out of the Great Hall, Harry spotted Ginny and Dean one final time saying their goodbyes. Harry could tell that Ginny was extremely happy and did not want to get in the way of that even if it meant standing on the sidelines while he got his feelings hurt.

 _"She really must be over me then. This must have been how she was feeling when I was drooling all over Cho Chang last year!"_ thought Harry.

Once the "happy couple" was out of view, Harry felt more at ease by heading to Potions and tried to put the thought of his crush snogging another guy out of his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **(A few hours later that same day)**

After Professor Slughorn's class, Harry was brimming with joy. Not only did he outsmart Hermione for once, but he managed to acquire a vial of Felix Felicis as the top prize for brewing a perfect batch of Living Death.

As he took the small vial out to examine it once more, he remembered the words that Professor Slughorn instilled in class.

 _"This class is what's known as Felix Felicis, or more commonly referred to as "Liquid Luck". The drinker of this potion is given 24 hours of pure luck and is ensured that all of their endeavors will succeed. The student who can successfully brew a perfect batch of Living Death by the end of class will be given this as a reward! However I must warn you that only one student has ever managed to brew a worthy batch and claim this prize, so you have quite a task ahead of you!"_

Harry now felt practically invincible knowing that he had this small batch of pure luck in his hands. Oh the things he could accomplish! If there was a big Quidditch match coming up, if Snape was assigning him extra homework, or even if he was just bored and wanted to see what would happen if he tried some, then this little charm would help him out flawlessly.

As Harry was contemplating on what to possibly use this potion for, Hermione spoke up and distracted him from his thoughts.

"Are you SURE the instructions told you to crush the ingredients instead of cut them?"

Harry proceeded to turn around and was about to tell Hermione off because he had already explained this several times to her, but Ron beat him to the punch.

"Oh lay off Hermione. So Harry's book told him to crush something instead of cut something. He beat you fair and square. Besides it's not like he cheated to get the prize," said Ron.

"But… but… Ok. I'm sorry Harry. I got a little jealous and I didn't believe you. I apologize." said Hermione

Even though Hermione was getting on his nerves today, Harry could tell she was sincere and decided to forgive her instead of dragging it out.

"It's okay Hermione, but I just wish you would have believed me the first time around when I told you."

"I understand Harry. I won't do it again I promise."

"Thanks Hermione."

Harry could have just admitted that he may have been cheating considering the book he received from Potions class was mostly scribbled out and replaced with better instructions from someone named "The Half Blood Prince", but he was not having the greatest of mornings and he really needed a pick me up. Correction. What he needed was..

"So Harry. Since you have that vial of instant luck, I was thinking that maybe this could really tip the balance in case you run into any Death Eaters." said Hermione.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks and since Ron was not looking where he was going, he crashed into him and fell on the floor. After helping Ron back on his feet, Harry turned to Hermione and said:

"You know, I never thought of it like that Hermione. I'm not always that confident when I face them and there have been close calls before. Perhaps if ..."

Harry almost started mentioning Sirius. If he had the vial of Liquid Luck back in the Department of Mysteries then Sirius may still be alive right now. Harry was avoiding his friend's gazes. He was truly heartbroken at the thought of Sirius going through the void in the archway again.

Hermione instantly regretted mentioning this to Harry and didn't consider that he may link this to the death of his Godfather. She would have to do something nice for him later as an apology. Even though she only viewed Harry as a brother, she really did care for him with all of her heart and hated to see him in so much pain.

With tears welling up in his eyes, Harry shook his head and proceeded to finish his response to Hermione.

"And maybe if something drastic were to happen then lives could be spared because of this." said Harry.

"Yes .. Yes that's right Harry. I'm glad you see this as something that is truly important and may even save your life one day."

"Harry are you okay?" asked Ron.

At this moment Hermione slapped Ron upside the head.

"Ouch! What was that for Hermione?!"

"Ron! Can't you see that Harry is still upset about Sirius?"

"Well excuse me Hermione I was just asking Harry if he was ok! There's no need to get violent on the back of my head!"

"You DESERVED IT you git after continuing to pry at Harry when you could see that he was upset!" shouted Hermione.

"Whatever! I don't need to hear this!"

And with that Ron stormed out leaving Hermione and Harry awkwardly staring at one another. Deciding to end the tension, Harry spoke up first.

"It's ok Hermione I'm not upset anymore. I didn't mean to bring up Sirius, but I couldn't help but think about it the moment I said it possibly saving someone's life." said Harry.

"Ok Harry. I'm sorry about Sirius. I know you still miss him and so do I."

Harry simply nodded and said it was fine. Truth be told he felt bad more for Ron than Sirius' passing at the moment. Even though he is clueless, Ron did only want to help in the end. Unfortunately Ron and Hermione were fighting a lot more than usual lately and that meant it would be some time until they patched things up again.

After that, Harry and Hermione didn't say anything and resumed walking to their next class.


	2. Chapter 2: The Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, moments, or plots from the books in the Harry Potter universe or anything that's written by JK Rowling. I do not make any money on this either. This is purely for my benefit and nothing else.

Note: I try to use themes and moments from the books and movies of the Harry Potter Universe, but I don't heavily borrow from either. If it's a direct moment from the books I will mention it, otherwise I will not do so. The stories I write may be OOC and that's fine. I just want to interpret the story as I see fit.

Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen?

 **Chapter 2: The Plan**

A few weeks went by and Harry was at his wit's end. Everywhere he looked he ended up seeing Ginny and Dean, or someone that looked like Ginny, or even sometimes he would fantasize about being with Ginny. He really wanted to show her how much she means to him. More importantly was the fact that he just wanted his friend back.

Ever since the attack on Arthur Weasley's life in the Department of Mysteries, Ginny and Harry grew a lot closer than they ever had before. At first he tried to distance himself from the entire Weasley family because he believed he was the one responsible for Arthur Weasley's condition, but after Ginny went to comfort him, he felt better than he ever did. The two of them discovered they had a lot of similar interests in common and not just the suffering at the hands of Voldemort.

Harry noticed that he should have become friends with Ginny a long time ago because of what happened in the Chamber of Secrets and mentally kicked himself for not doing so. He could have easily just blamed it on just trying to be Ron's friend, and possibly alienate him because it meant that Harry may end up losing Ron, but in the end Harry had no excuse. He should have tried to get to know Ginny better, but he didn't. Harry knew that he would have to do better from that point forward.

As time went on, Harry found that not having Ginny in his life would be devastating because he had really come to care for her. He finally stopped seeing her as Ron's sister and began noticing Ginny as her own person. When the battle in the Department of Mysteries came, Harry was reluctant to bring Ginny along because he knew she would be in grave danger. Despite his best efforts, whatever they were, Ginny refused to stand on the sidelines and demanded to be there to help him out. That was when he knew he felt something for her as more than a friend. She really did care for him and he really cared for her. It wasn't too long after Sirius' death that Harry decided he wanted to spend time alone with Ginny before the summer, but he never got the chance. He would have to wait unfortunately until the summer with the Dursleys was over in order to try again.

A few days before everyone went back to Hogwarts, Harry was brought to the burrow via apparation from Dumbledore and he finally saw his opportunity to spend some time alone with Ginny. He was planning on taking Ginny around Diagon Alley for the day, talking to her about Quidditch, school, or really anything else possible and then surprise her by asking her out on a real date at the end. That's when he received a terrible bombshell: she was seeing someone. When Ginny evidently told the Weasley family that she and Dean were going out, Harry really tried to be happy for her, but he couldn't. It was at that point that Harry noticed Ginny seemed to talk to him less and began her free time writing to or spending time with Dean. Even if he was only going to be her friend and nothing more, Harry really couldn't stand being away from her.

When Harry returned to Hogwarts he thought he would receive some peace of mind, but he didn't. Harry's sleep was suffering and he was taking a dive in his grades, even though school had just started, from not speaking to Ginny. He tried to talk to her a number of times throughout the past few weeks, but every time he thought he could confront her, something always came up! Whether that be Dean coming in, or she be buried in homework and not want to be disturbed, or simply he couldn't find her at all. Harry was getting the impression that every day Ginny wanted less and less to do with him. It really hurt Harry because he missed her and couldn't understand why she was avoiding him.

Hermione and Ron were becoming increasingly worried about Harry on almost a daily basis. What's even more surprising was that the two of them made up from the small fight a short while ago in order to get Harry out of the funk he was in. Ron being the clueless one, tried to get Harry to get a date with girls around Hogwarts. However every time he even mentioned the words "girls", "date", or "Hogsmeade", Harry would immediately close up and beg him to drop the subject. Even though Harry knew that Ron was only trying to help, he wished that his red haired friend would just not talk to him if it meant trying to date someone other than Ginny.

Hermione was not faring much better than Ron. She kept imploring Harry to open up his feelings to her because she could tell something was wrong. Harry unfortunately never gave in. This caused Hermione to push further and in reaction cause Harry to be more and more reclusive than ever before. It was becoming clear to her that whatever Harry was going through, he would have to do this on his own and hopefully things would work out for the better.

It was the beginning of October and Harry was finding himself spending a lot less time with his friends and going out to the Quidditch pitch at every chance he could just to think things over and fly. He could always feel better when he was flying. It was a trait his father had that he was extremely glad to have inherited. As he began soaring higher into the air, he found a hidden spot that was located just beyond the pitch and was near the Black Lake. He flew down to the spot and set down his Firebolt broom next to the big tree that surprisingly looked like a whomping willow, but thankfully did not attack him.

 _"What is the matter with me?"_ thought Harry _. "I miss Ginny so much and I should be happy for her and the relationship she has but all I can do is be jealous about it!"_

Harry continued to ponder over his thoughts about Ginny and realized that maybe he was the one responsible for pushing her away but couldn't think of a good reason why.

 _"I don't even know what I did to scare her off! Did she find out that I wanted to date her and now she wants nothing to do with me?"_

After a minute of thinking it over, he came to the conclusion that it must be the answer.

 _"That has to be it! I've lost a best friend just because I wanted to date her. Why didn't I see it before? No wonder she won't talk to me,"_ thought Harry.

Now Harry began to wonder just how Ginny could have found out about his feelings. Hermione definitely didn't tell her because Harry made sure to not mention it at all to his bushy haired friend. He knew that Hermione would tell Ginny eventually because they were really close, and that was something that Harry didn't want his crush to know.

Harry kept thinking about how Ginny must have found out and it seemed like there was only one explanation: Ron. When Harry came to the burrow before the summer ended, he confided in Ron as to what he was feeling for his sister. It initially took Ron a few days before he would speak to Harry again, but he eventually accepted it and promised to not say anything to his sister. Harry however was now sure that Ron must have said something and started to get angered by his friend doing so.

 _"That is the LAST time I tell Ron anything! It's probably because he didn't approve and went off to warn her that I was about to do something! Well even though that seems like it's the case, I have to confront her. I can't take this anymore. I don't even care if she doesn't say one word and then leaves, I have to say what's on my mind."_

Harry spent the next few hours sitting under the tree and going over how he would confront Ginny. He finally came up with the perfect plan and began heading back to Gryffindor Tower to head in early for the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **(The following day)**

The next day Harry awoke early to initiate his plan into action. Taking his father's invisibility cloak, the vial of liquid luck, and the Marauder's Map, Harry proceeded to head down to the common room to wait for Hermione. Considering it was a Saturday, and Ron was going to be in bed for the next few hours at least, he really needed to ask for some help from Hermione. Also given the fact that Harry couldn't trust Ron at the moment it seemed like he needed to confide into someone else. The bushy haired girl came down fairly quickly after Harry and it was at this point that he begged her to do something for him.

"Of course Harry what's the matter?" asked Hermione

"Hermione I need you to tell Ginny to meet me in the Charms class on the fourth floor whenever she wakes up. I don't care what her excuse is, I just need her to come as urgently as possible."

Hermione was rather shocked to find out that this was what Harry wanted.

"Of .. Of course I'll help you. Does this have anything to do with why you're more miserable than ever now?"

Harry nodded slowly and simply said "Yes."

"Harry you should have said something! I could have helped you a lot earlier and you wouldn't have been so miserable! What is it that you plan to do?"

"That's kind of a secret Hermione. I just really need to talk to her. If you can do this for me, I promise I will be forever in your debt."

"Harry you don't owe me anything. Just please don't do anything irrational okay? I can tell she means a lot to you and the last thing you want to do is scare her away."

Harry proceeded to thank her and move out of the common room, when he was stopped rather quickly by Hermione.

"Harry wait is that the vial of Felix Felicis?"

The black haired boy stopped in his tracks and turned to face his friend. Initially Harry tried to hide the vial but quickly realized that wasn't going to work with Hermione because he was a terrible liar. After showing Hermione the potion in his hand, he began speaking again.

"Yes. I really think I am going to need it Hermione."

"NO don't take it with you! I thought we already talked about it possibly saving your life in case Voldemort's followers come around!"

"I know Hermione. Believe me I think it is truly a brilliant idea and I would like nothing more than to save it for that, but this is more important to me right now than getting saved from an attack by the Death Eaters."

Hermione stood there for a second contemplating what he said when she spoke again.

"More important than having your life saved? Harry what in the world would make you think that? There's no possible explanation for why you would need this potion right now unless ..."

Hermione came to the conclusion about Harry's true feelings and the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

"You love her don't you? That's why you need to talk to her today isn't it?" asked Hermione.

Harry didn't speak but nodded his head rather slowly again.

"Harry while I'm not comfortable with you going after her while she is with someone else, I do commend you for finally admitting your true feelings for her. It's about time you got your head straight and ask her out!

Harry chuckled before saying "Believe me Hermione I've wanted to do this for a while now but first I need to find out why she is avoiding me."

"Well okay then Harry. However before you go I think I should do something to assist you with your goal."

At that point Hermione pulled out a small empty vial from her bag and gave it to Harry.

"Do you always keep empty vials around? This is something I would expect Slughorn or Snape to do on a daily basis, but I never imagined you would."

Hermione laughed a bit before admitting that she has always brought extra supplies with her ever since the fight in the Department of Mysteries against the Death Eaters. Harry was extremely impressed with her and vowed he would start doing the same, even if it would not be as much as what Hermione would bring. At this point Harry asked her:

"What do I need this empty vial for?"

"Isn't it obvious Harry? I want you to not drink ALL of the Liquid Luck for just trying to fix things with Ginny. Even if you only have a few drops of this potion, it should be able to give you enough luck for a few hours. This kind of thing really does not require 24 hours Harry, so maybe splitting up the time would be more significant?" said Hermione.

Harry was again amazed by her brilliance and wondered why he didn't consider this earlier. He was extremely grateful that Hermione was here to help him out with these kinds of things, if all went well today, he would have to do something nice for her later. At this point Harry complied and poured in 75% of the potion into the empty vial that Hermione had given him. With the remaining 25% he swallowed it all and instantly felt an overwhelming wave of calmness thrust upon him. At first, Harry was uncomfortable because it was unexpected, but after 30 seconds or so he felt like he could take on the entire world!

"How do you feel?"

"Honestly … I feel absolutely fantastic Hermione. I wish I could drink this stuff all day! Have you ever noticed how wonderful the curtains are on the wall? I think they look great! Also wow you are absolutely spectacular today! I should have said something earlier! Oh and … "

Hermione cut him off and proceeded to get Harry focused. She asked him to hand over the other 75% of the Liquid Luck. Harry immediately handed it over and complemented her another 4 times before she slapped him in the face.

"Jeez Hermione! … That was quite an amazing slap! I wish I had that much comfortability to do that to someone. Come to think of it I wish I could do that to Draco on a daily basis! Also .. "

"HARRY! Stop it and focus! Thank the lord you only swallowed 25% of the potion. Who knows what kind of things you could do with the whole thing!"

"Sorry Hermione I can't help it!" exclaimed Harry.

"I know Harry just please stay focused on trying to talk to Ginny. Ok? Now you said you were going to go to the Charms class on the fourth floor. Please go there and wait for her to arrive. Ok?"

"You got it Hermione. You are so pleasant to talk to and I must say that .. "

"GET OUT HARRY!" Hermione shouted.

"Right sorry! I'm going I'm going I swear!"

At this point Harry bolted from the Common Room and headed to the Charms class on the fourth floor. Once he arrived he immediately put on the invisibility cloak, so that no one would see him in case they came in unexpectedly, and watched the Marauder's Map to see if Ginny would just in case decide to go somewhere else. For right now he could see Ginny's dot on the map moving back and forth in the Gryffindor Girl's Dorm Room.

"Good. She is awake. I cannot wait to tell her how I feel. I just hope she feels the same way."


	3. Chapter 3: Before and After the Attack

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, moments, or plots from the books in the Harry Potter universe or anything that's written by JK Rowling. I do not make any money on this either. This is purely for my benefit and nothing else.

Note: I try to use themes and moments from the books and movies of the Harry Potter Universe, but I don't heavily borrow from either. If it's a direct moment from the books I will mention it, otherwise I will not do so. The stories I write may be OOC and that's fine. I just want to interpret the story as I see fit.

Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen?

 **Chapter 3: Before and After the Attack**

 **(Earlier that morning)**

Ginny awoke from her rather unpleasant dream earlier than usual and found herself into the life she did not want once again. She was going out with Dean Thomas. Dean, not Harry, definitely Dean, and that's it. Every day for Ginny was mainly the same. She would arise from her dreams about the day previous and recall the numerous amount of times that she felt "protected" by Dean and his friends.

It was bad enough that once the the two of them dating Dean essentially changed overnight and became incredibly obsessive over her, but that also meant he put a leash on her regarding Harry and his friends as well. Dean was jealous that Ginny was infatuated with Harry for so long and didn't want old feelings to come up again unexpectedly and she go running after Potter. Dean told her simply that if she tried to talk to him, Potter would be hurt badly. Just for good measure, Dean said the same thing about Ginny's brother Ron and Hermione as well.

Ginny realized too late what a horrible mistake she made by going out with Dean, but what choice did she have? It was either stop talking to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, or see them all get hurt by her "wonderful" boyfriend. Ginny even knew how far Dean was willing to go because of his jealousness over Harry because he would mentally abuse her and sometimes would slap her for being disobedient. There was no other decision in the matter; Ginny would have to abide by Dean's rules in order to keep Harry, Hermione, and Ron safe.

After sobbing once again at the thought dealing with another day of being with Dean, Ginny proceeded to shower and got ready for the day. It was about half an hour later when Ginny finally came down from her dorm. She knew that "the talk" had to happen today with Dean and she didn't look forward to it at all.

 _"I don't know if I can do this, but I have to use that Gryffindor courage somehow to get through this. God knows I need it now more than ever."_ Ginny thought.

When Ginny reached the end of the stairs, Hermione walked over to her and began to ask:

"Ginny can I ask you to come with me for a minute?"

"Sure Hermione. Is everything ok?" asked Ginny.

The two of them began walking over to the couch near the fire in the Gryffindor common room and proceeded to sit down.

"Well to be honest no. Ginny, I don't know how to tell you this but Harry is upset and demanded to speak with you today in the Charms class on the fourth floor. He wanted you to head over there as soon as possible."

At this point Ginny became extremely worried.

"Hermione I cannot go."

"WHAT? Why not? Please don't tell me you have something more important to do?"

"Well actually yes there is. I have to break it off with Dean."

Hermione gave the red haired witch a questioning look before Ginny began talking again.

"He is extremely controlling and won't let me hang out with anyone that he doesn't approve of. That especially includes Harry because he knows that I've had a crush on him forever. I'm tired of not being able to see Harry. I miss him so much and I hate the fact that I've been ignoring him, but you don't understand! Dean and his friends follow me around everywhere and I can't get a minute to myself. You don't know what he's like when he sees me with someone else that he doesn't approve of!"

Ginny began crying and Hermione reached out to her and gave her a hug.

"Ginny I can't imagine how hard this must be for you. If you need some support I will be there when you confront Dean."

It took a few minutes for Ginny to compose herself but she finally calmed down and thanked Hermione for listening. It took some convincing, but Hermione was able to get Ginny to agree to letting her be there. She was just going to be near by in the common room so that in case anything got out of hand, Ginny would not be so worried.

The two girls only had to wait a few more minutes before Dean came down and walked straight over to Ginny. He attempted to kiss her but Ginny was not having any of it.

"Dean don't. We need to talk."

"Oh? What about?"

Ginny hesitated and looked at Hermione for a moment before continuing her thought.

"I can't do this any more Dean. I don't want to be in a relationship with you."

"What? Why? Is there someone else? It's Potter ISN'T IT?" Dean shouted.

"Dean you constantly keep me all to yourself and I never get to hang around anyone you don't approve of! I haven't seen some of my friends in about a month or so and you can't handle me being independent!"

Meanwhile, across Hogwarts, Harry was still waiting for Ginny to arrive in the Charms classroom on the fourth floor. As he noticed Ginny meet with Dean on the Marauder's Map, he could see the both of them move back and forth. Also ..

 _"Hermione is in the corner of the common room? What is she doing there_? _Maybe it would be a good idea to head over there and see if anything is wrong."_ he thought to himself.

At that moment Harry noticed that Ginny's dot on the map flew across the common room to the other side of the wall, while Dean's dot remained perfectly still. He instantly got up and ran down to the Gryffindor common as fast as he could. As Harry approached the common room, he heard Hermione saying something like:

"Please Ginny wake up! Please please wake up!"

As Harry got closer to Hermione he could see that Ginny was knocked out cold and some blood was flowing out from her nose. While he was still under the effects of the potion, Harry couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with worry.

"HERMIONE! What happened here? Where is Dean?! I saw him and Ginny on the map!" Harry exclaimed.

"Oh Harry it was horrible! So Ginny comes down and tells me that she wants to break it off with Dean, but when she tried to tell him he couldn't take it and pulled out his wand and blasted her against the wall."

"WHERE IS HE HERMIONE?!" Harry shouted.

"Over there in the corner. I think he forgot I was here to be honest and didn't see my body binding curse coming." said Harry.

Harry could now see Dean lying on the floor of the common room and vowed to have a "talk" with him later to make sure he felt his wrath.

"Hermione make sure this slimeball stays here and doesn't move! I'm going to take Ginny to the hospital wing. Also please wake Ron if you can and get him to get McGonagall. She will want to know what happened here! Ok?" asked Harry.

"Yes Harry of course. Now go! She's lost a lot of blood!"

Harry looked down at his crush and saw that Hermione was right. There was a small puddle next to her face and he could tell that her nose was definitely broken. As he picked her up in his arms, and starting moving out of the common room, he whispered to her very gently so that only she could hear.

"Ginny. I'm so sorry for what happened. I don't know if you can hear me but I missed you terribly. Please wake up so I can tell you how much."

Ginny didn't say anything unfortunately. Even though he was upset that Ginny was unconscious he did feel good about having her in his arms.

 _"Focus Potter. The potion is messing with your head. Just get her down to the hospital wing and then you can fantasize about her."_

Harry shook off his conflicting emotions and picked up the pace to bring Ginny to the hospital wing. After a few minutes, Harry was approached by none other than Madam Pomfrey.

"Potter. Why am I not surprised? What have you gotten yourself into this time? Is it a broken bone or ... "

Pomfrey now could see Ginny in his arms and the blood over her face. To say she looked shocked was an understatement. She really liked Ginny because the student had interests in becoming a healer and Pomfrey really respected that about her.

"Madam Pomfrey please help her. She and Dean got into a fight and she's unconscious!" said Harry.

"Take her over here! Now!" said Madam Pomfrey.

Harry did not need to be told twice and proceeded to lay Ginny down on the bed. After performing a few cleaning spells on her face, as well as a few diagnostic spells, Madam Pomfrey was able to announce that ...

"Well you're lucky you brought her in when you did Mr. Potter. She has a massive fracture to her nose, a few ribs are broken, some areas to the back of her head are swollen, and parts of her face are starting to bruise. She has suffered some blood loss and seems to also have a concussion on top of everything. The only thing we can do is let her rest once I heal her broken face and bones."

Harry sat there confused and perplexed as to what was going on.

 _"I don't get it. If Felix Felicis is supposed to make all of my endeavors succeed then why would Ginny be hurt so badly? I never wanted her hurt! I just wanted to find her and tell her how I felt! There's got to be more to this. Hermione might know what to do."_

Breaking his train of thought, Madam Pomfrey spoke up.

"You know Potter it must have been quite straining to carry her down all this way. Do you need a pick me up potion?"

Realizing that this MAY get him into a hospital bed, Harry immediately answered no and proceeded to sit next to Ginny. Even though he could use a pick me up potion, he was still under the effects of Liquid Luck and didn't want to tell Madam Pomfrey about that.

"Potter I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Ms. Weasley needs rest and will be in a careful state for some time. Also if you aren't a patient, or someone close to the patient, then I need you to go."

"But I am close to Ginny! I am practically family to the Weasleys and I've already saved her once before in the Chamber of Secrets remember?" Harry stated.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "Yes I remember Mr. Potter. Ok fine you can stay for a few minutes. Just please get me if she wakes. She needs to be asleep for a while ok?"

"I will."

Harry watched as Promfrey whisked away to check on her other patients. When she was finally out of sight, he turned over to Ginny and looked down at her longingly.

Ginny's face was starting to swell near her nose and the left side of her cheek, but to Harry he still thought she looked beautiful. He couldn't imagine how someone could do this to her, no matter what the circumstance. As he began to think about it, he took Ginny's hand and silently spoke to her.

"Ginny. I want to tell you that I really think you're something special and I just cannot believe that Dean would do this to you. Even though I wish I knew why I haven't seen you or talked to you in so long, I am just glad to see you once more."

His hand tightened around hers.

"Ginny you really are amazing. I wish you were awake right now so that I could talk to you." said Harry.

Harry was struggling to keep his eyes from watering, but continued to talk to Ginny.

"You … you have no idea how much I missed you. I know you were enjoying yourself with Dean, but once you started going out with him, I felt like i lost part of my heart as well as a best friend. I just wish we could have talked before this happened. I'm so sorry you're in this situation" said Harry.

It was at this moment that Pomfrey returned and asked Potter to leave again. Even though he was willing to fight tooth and nail to stay there, he listened to the medical patron for now.

"Ginny I'll be back. I promise. I just have to find the guy who did this to you and beat the pulp out of him."

Harry reluctantly let go of her hand and walked out of the medical wing in silence. Even if Madam Pomfrey forbid him from seeing her later he would do so anyways, but underneath the invisibility cloak.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry quickly headed back to the common room to see what had become of the situation, but under the current stress that this morning had brought on, he unfortunately forgot the password to get in. When he arrived at the Fat Lady, she didn't even bother with the normal password and just sent him in automatically based on what had happened.

 _"Well that was convenient"_ Harry thought.

Harry stepped through the portrait. He only saw Hermione on the couch in front of the fireplace. He looked around and noticed that Dean was gone, the blood on the floor has been cleaned up, and Ron was also not present.

"Hermione what happened here?"

Hermione looked up and practically squeezed the life out of him when he came down and sat next to her.

"Oh Harry I'm glad you're back. Is Ginny okay? Is she seriously injured?" Hermione asked.

"Pomfrey said she has a broken nose, a few broken ribs and has a concussion. I wanted to stay with her longer but she practically kicked me out after being with her for a few minutes. What happened here Hermione? Where is Dean and Ron?"

"Oh right I'm sorry Harry I was worried about Ginny and forgot to answer your question. So when you left I immediately ran upstairs and got Ron. He was FURIOUS and stormed down the stairs. Unfortunately instead of getting McGonagall right away, he decided to punch dean in the face and kick him in the crotch as well. I had to pry him away from Dean and get him to get McGonagall, but she was already on her way here when because she heard the commotion earlier. When she came in she saw that Ron was still hurting Dean and because of it he got 2 weeks of detention."

"What? So Dean causes harm to Ginny but because Ron decided to give that slimeball some much needed payback, he gets detention?" shouted Harry.

"Don't worry Harry. McGonagall said she would go easy on his detentions after I explained what happened here. McGonagall can't play favorites and has to follow the rules as a teacher. You know that. However she did give me 20 house points for knocking out Dean and preventing anyone else from possibly getting hurt."

Harry rolled his eyes before speaking. "Well at least McGonagall was nice enough to give you points. Honestly I would give anything to see Ron kick Dean in the balls right now and I wouldn't care if McGonagall was present or not. Is Ron serving his detention now?"

"Yes he is and we won't see him for most of the day today or Sunday for that matter. I know McGonagall said she would go easy on him, but I dont know what she has in store for Ron." said Hermione.

"Let's just hope it has nothing to do with cleaning cobwebs or going into the Forbidden Forest. Just the thought of him dealing with spiders would be enough punishment. Plus have you seen his face when he sees a spider? It twists and turns into a big mess of silly putty and normally he runs away after spotting one!" laughed Harry.

Hermione stared laughing a bit. Harry was laughing along with her but stopped suddenly when realizing again that Dean was not present.

"Hermione which where is Dean? I wouldn't mind kicking him in the crotch a few times."

Hermione gasped at Harry's statement but she knew that he was right about giving Dean some punishment.

"Dean is gone Harry." said Hermione.

Harry was about to say something that stated the obvious, when Hermione continued. "I don't just mean from the common room Harry. I mean Dean has been expelled from Hogwarts. So if you do want to rough Dean up a bit you'll have to find him out in the world wherever he is."

Harry was not disappointed to hear that Dean was gone. Now that he was out, Ginny could feel safe and not have to constantly look over her shoulder. Hermione began to get up but Harry stopped her and said:

"Wait Hermione I have to ask you two things I just remembered."

"Sure Harry what is it?" asked Hermione.

"The first is I saw you on the Marauder's Map when Ginny and Dean were fighting. Why you there and why were they fighting anyways?" asked Harry.

"When you asked me to wait for her and tell her to come meet you, I could tell she had something on her mind. At first she didn't want to meet you.."

Harry started to look gloomy and put his head down, but Hermione snapped him back into what she was saying.

"Please Harry let me finish! You'll want to hear what I have to say. Ok?"

"Sure. Go ahead Hermione."

"So anyways, Ginny said she didn't want to meet you because she needed to break things off with Dean. When I asked her why, she said because she was constantly pressured into not being around her friends again and felt that Dean was too controlling of her. I offered to stay nearby and give her support in case things went wrong. She also mentioned that she missed you Harry. She missed you a lot. Ginny wanted to come tell you ever since she found out about who Dean really was, but she had eyes on her constantly by Dean's friends. She felt trapped Harry. Ginny never wanted to hurt you." said Hermione.

Harry couldn't keep the smile off of his face when Hermione told him what Ginny had said.

"So she did miss me? She really did?" Harry asked excitingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes before answering.

"Yes Harry. I swear she missed you. If I were you I would go and tell Ginny how much she means to you when she gets out of the hospital wing. Also you both really need to stop pussyfooting around and just get together. Ask her out on a date!"

"I plan on it Hermione." said Harry.

"What's the other thing you wanted to ask me about?" asked Hermione.

"Well it was something I noticed when I brought Ginny down to the hospital wing. I was under the effects of Felix Felicis this entire time but Ginny got hurt. I NEVER wanted her hurt Hermione. I was just confused and upset that she wasn't speaking to me anymore. Why did the potion cause Ginny to be hurt? I thought it was supposed to make all of my endeavors come true?"

Hermione thought for the longest time before answering Harry. Truth be told she had no idea why the potion backfired, but she had a suspicion.

"Harry I need you to tell me the truth. When you took the potion did you want Dean to be hurt instead of Ginny?" Hermione nervously asked.

"No. I'm not like that Hermione. I did want them to break up, but I never wanted Dean or Ginny to be hurt."

"I thought so. Well Harry I think I will go check this out in the library. I would advise that you maybe ask Professor Slughorn about it in the mean time and see if he knows anything."

"Thanks Hermione I will." said Harry.

And with that Harry started heading towards the dungeons to find Professor Slughorn.


	4. Chapter 4: Slughorn's Explanation

**Chapter 4: Slughorn's Explanation**

Down in the dungeons of Hogwarts, Professor Slughorn was sitting in his classroom coming up with the lesson plan for the next month.

 _"Hmm I wonder if it might be a good idea to introduce NEWT level poisons to the 6th years. Maybe but they would have to learn about this potion first and ..."_

A knock at the door disturbed Professor Slughorn from his thoughts.

"Yes who is it?" asked Slughorn

"Professor it's Harry Potter. Do you have a moment?"

Horace Slughorn's face lit up at the sound of Harry's voice. He hadn't been able to "collect" Harry yet as part of his esteemed group of students, but considering that Potter was rapidly becoming the top student in the class, it may be a lot faster to do so than he thought.

"Harry my boy! Yes please please come in!" Slughorn excitedly stated.

Harry entered the potions class and sat down near the professor.

"So Harry what brings you here? You do realize this is a Saturday don't you? I would have figured that you and Mr. Weasley would have been practicing for Quidditch tryouts next week." said Slughorn.

"As fun as that sounds Professor, I need to ask you something important and it relates to something serious that happened today."

"How serious are we talking here Harry?" asked Slughorn.

"Well Professor it's kind of a long story. Is it ok if I tell you so that you can understand why I need some advice?"

"I don't see why not. You do realize you can come to me if you have any kind of problems right? I may be older in my years, but I do have a lot of knowledge to pass on to my younger pupils."

"Yes thanks Professor. So here's what happened..."

Harry then began to explain everything that had occurred over the last few hours. He talked about his fascination with Ginny (briefly of course), what happened between her and Dean, and Hermione's advice to come see him.

"I do appreciate the story Harry but I'm not sure as to why you sought out my council." said a confused Slughorn.

"Right. Professor when I mentioned everything that happened I forgot to add in that I drank the Felix Felicis you gave me not too long ago and was wondering why everything ended so badly."

Horace contemplated over what Harry had told him.

 _"I know I made the potion right. So why did the end result come out badly? There shouldn't have been any reason that Felix Felicis failed. Unless.."_

"Well Harry there's only one conclusion that I can come up with as to why everything happened the way it did. Harry, did you by chance take ALL of the Felix Felicis or did you take some of it?" asked Slughorn.

Harry groaned a little when he realized that it was probably because he only took a small portion of the potion.

"Just some professor. I wanted to use the whole thing but Hermione persuaded me otherwise." said Harry.

"Why would she suggest such a thing?" Slughorn asked.

"Well to be honest it would be nice to have most of it left over in case a Death Eater or even Lord Voldemort were to show up."

"DON'T USE THAT NAME!" shouted Slughorn.

Harry was a little shocked to hear a sudden outburst from Professor Slughorn. Normally he was always so calm and now he blew up at the mentioning of Voldemort's name.

"I'm sorry Professor. I only use that name because I'm not afraid of him. He killed my parents you see." said Harry.

"I know Harry but please don't use that name in my presence. I taught Tom Riddle when he was younger and even then I didn't know what I was dealing with. Whatever evil was within him was deeply below the surface."

Harry nodded in reply and then the Professor began his explanation.

"Anyways I am glad you wanted to use the Liquid Luck I have given you for something like that but you have to understand why only using part of that potion is not a good idea."

"I'm not sure I understand sir." stated Harry.

"Well it's like this Harry. The potion only makes the user 100% lucky for 24 hrs if the potion is taken all at once. When you drank some of Felix Felicis the effects, while temporary, only had a small portion of luck inside. How much did you take by the way?" asked Slughorn.

"About 25% or so sir."

"Right so when you took that 25%, you only had that much of a percent chance of the luck being good. Luck, as you know, is not always good. When you use so little of the potion, the results can be disastrous as you have seen today. Unless the whole thing is taken at once there will always be a chance that the luck could turn bad. I'm afraid if you had taken even less than what you have told me then you would have really been playing with fire."

Harry shuddered to think that because of his carelessness he could have possibly killed Ginny. It was his fault. He almost killed Ginny and got Dean expelled ... Okay he didn't didn't care about Dean after what just happened. Expulsion or not, Dean made his choice and he had to suffer the consequences.

"Harry I just want you to know this is not your fault. I'm sorry I didn't mention this earlier but I've never heard of anyone who wanted to split up the dose of Liquid Luck. I really should have said something. If I were you though, I would throw away that batch of Felix Felicis now and in exchange I will give you a new batch in about a few weeks time. Just to show there's no hard feelings."

"I'm not so sure sir after what happened today. Are you absolutely positive it's supposed to bring good luck?" asked Harry.

"Harry I can safely say that a numerous amount of students, colleagues, and myself included have taken Liquid Luck at some point in their lives. It absolutely works and the possibilities that come with it are endless. Again I do apologize about what happened. Please think it over and give me your answer next class ok?"

"Sure professor that sounds fine."

"Good. Oh and Harry?"

"Yes Professor?"

"I'm not supposed to mention this just yet but if you promise not to tell anyone else I can share a secret with you."

"Ok sure. I promise. What is it sir?" asked Harry.

"Well at the end of the term I usually have a Christmas Party to celebrate the holidays with some of the more prestigious students and faculty members. I would be most honored if you could go, and if you like, there is an option to bring a date to this event as well."

Harry sat there for a moment thinking about Slughorn's offer. While he and Slughorn didn't know each other very well, it would be good to go in order to get on his good side. Also Dumbledore needed him to get to know Slughorn for some reason, so it couldn't hurt to find out more about him.

"That sounds brilliant sir. I'd love to go."

"Excellent. Now if there's nothing else I must return to my preparations for the next few classes. Run along now Harry!"

With that Harry headed out the door of the Potions class and made his way back to the Hospital Wing. He absolutely needed to see Ginny again and apologize for his actions even if she wasn't awake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ginny Weasley was still sleeping in the hospital wing of Hogwarts when Harry arrived. He expected her to be asleep, but he had to see if she was awake regardless.

"Potter! I thought I told you to give Ms Weasley some rest! If you keep barging in here and checking up on her she won't get any better now will she?" stated an agitated Madam Pomfrey.

Harry was now beyond annoyed with Madam Pomfrey. After proceeding to tell her that he was only there to see if Ginny was okay and nothing more, Pomfrey stormed off and gave him some more time with Ginny.

 _"Finally she's gone. I'm just here to see if she's okay not to start another Wizarding War! Sometimes I really do think that old hag hates me!"_ Harry thought.

Harry let out a collective sigh and turned his head back to Ginny. Whatever Madam Pomfrey did, it was working wonders. The bruising in Ginny's face was now gone, the blood stain on her face no longer remained, and Harry could tell that she was breathing normally which meant her ribs were no longer broken as well. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe this was the only time that knowing her ribs were fixed was a good thing. Harry took Ginny's hand once again and he began talking to her out loud just like before.

"Ginny it's me Harry. I know you can't hear me but I had to come back and see if you're okay. I now know why everything happened earlier today."

Harry found it extremely hard at that point to not cry while looking at Ginny. His eyes were brimming with tears and he had to bite his tongue to prevent them from falling on his face.

"It was me. I did this Ginny! No I know I didn't blast the curse at you but I'm the one who set this whole thing in motion. I don't care what Professor Slughorn says. It was my recklessness that caused you this pain. I shouldn't have done this at all and just had the courage to tell you how I feel. BUT NO. I had to use my Liquid Luck potion to fix all of my problems instead of confronting you directly. All it did was make me realize I was a coward." stated Harry.

Harry was now sobbing at this point with tears down his face and put his head down next to her hand. After a few more minutes of crying, he looked up and brushed away his tears. Nothing had changed from Ginny's state.

 _"Good. I'm glad you don't have to see me and can't hear me. I can't stand the thought that I am the one responsible for this."_ thought Harry.

Harry knew then that it was time to leave. He didn't even need Pomfrey to come back and explain. He knew what he had done and that it was best if he had left. Harry looked at Ginny one last time and proceeded to kiss her on the forehead. As he stared at her longingly, Harry took her hand once more and he told her one final thing before departing.

"Ginny I'm so sorry again. I just wanted to say that I love you. I have for a while now but that doesn't matter anymore. You deserve so much better than me. I don't even deserve to be in Gryffindor for taking the cowards way out and by almost risking your life at the same time. Just please do me a favor. If you do have ANY feelings for me at all I want you to move on. I'm no good for you. I'll never bother you again. I promise." said Harry.

And with that Harry got up and left the hospital wing. Little did he know that Ginny, while still out from the attack, was no longer unconscious but too tired and sore to move or say anything. She had heard everything that Harry had said and, as a result, a few tears were falling down her face. As soon as she was better, she would find Harry and make him see reason.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry had just come back from the hospital wing and threw himself into a chair in the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione was waiting for him anxiously to tell him everything she had found out about Liquid Luck and the dangers of only using a little bit of it. However she could see that Harry was extremely upset and wanted to try and make him feel better.

"Harry are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"No Hermione I'm not. I found out why the Liquid Luck reacted so badly from Professor Slughorn and then afterwards I went to Ginny in the hospital wing. She's still unconscious Hermione. It's my fault she's like this! I'm such a coward to use something like Liquid Luck just to tell Ginny my feelings. If I had just saved it for something more important like we planned, then none of this would have happened!" shouted Harry.

"Harry please listen to me. I want you to hear about what I discovered in the library about Felix Felicis. Ok?"

Harry was too upset to say anything and just decided to nod instead.

"Ok so here's what I found out. I went and looked in the book _1000 Powerful Potions and How to Brew Them_ , and discovered that we should have let you taken the whole thing. You see the user needs to have at least 5 ounces of the potion in order for it to work properly. I then realized that the amount Slughorn had given you was exactly that: 5 ounces. So even if you filled the potion into a vial that was 10 ounces or so, you'd still get the full effect because it's all about consuming at least 5 ounces and after that it doesn't really matter. So if anything it's my fault for splitting up the dose because I just wanted you to use it for something greater later on!" said Hermione.

"Even though you suggested it Hermione I still listened! So if it's anyone's fault it's still mine! Plus have you ever known Dean to be violent? I haven't! I mean I knew he was controlling after working with him in class a few times, but violent? Felix Felicis brought out the absolute worse in him and Ginny took the punishment for something that never should have happened in the first place!" shouted Harry.

"Harry DON'T blame yourself!" Hermione practically yelled at this point.

"It was my idea to use only part of the potion. You're like a brother to me Harry and I couldn't bear it if something terrible were to happen to you because you didn't have this potion to help you out later! This really is not your fault. As soon as Ginny is better I will go apologize on behalf of everything." said Hermione.

Harry was touched by what one of his best friends had said, but he still felt guilty about everything that had transpired earlier.

"I don't want you to Hermione. She'll never forgive you if she realizes it was you. Please let me do this. I need her to hate me."

"Harry what's going on? Earlier today you wanted to shout from the mountain tops that you love her and now you want Ginny to hate you? I don't understand!" stated Hermione.

"I can't handle the guilt Hermione! My friends are always getting hurt because of me! Do you remember what happened a few months ago in the Department of Mysteries? Everyone got hurt in some way. Neville got his arm broken, you and Ron had a ton of bruises, Luna ended up with a light concussion, and Ginny twisted her leg! Also before that Mr. Weasley nearly got killed because I was the snake that bit him! Plus do I really need to mention our second year? Even though Voldemort was trying to purge the school of muggleborns, he still was trying to get to me in the end! You almost died because of that. Ginny wouldn't have been possessed in the first place if I had just been a better friend! She's better off without me! You and Ron are better off without me! EVERYONE IS BETTER OFF WITHOUT ME!" Harry yelled.

Harry took off and ran out of the Common Room leaving an upset Hermione sitting there feeling so bad for her best friend.

 _"Harry you're such a noble git sometimes. You are one of the most honorable people I know and I'm glad to have you in my life. You may think that you're the reason for everyone's suffering, but in reality you make all of us feel safe and secure. You're a hero Harry even if you don't realize it. I wish you hadn't left so I could have told you this myself."_ thought Hermione.

Even though Hermione desperately wanted to find Harry and smack some sense into him, she decided to leave him be for now. He needed time to sort things out on his own. Feeling a little depressed, Hermione decided to go into the kitchens to get some hot chocolate from the house elves. She may not have agreed that the house elves were basically slaves wherever they ended up working, but they did make an excellent hot chocolate.


	5. Chapter 5: Ron & Ginny

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, moments, or plots from the books in the Harry Potter universe or anything that's written by JK Rowling. I do not make any money on this either. This is purely for my benefit and nothing else.

Note: I try to use themes and moments from the books and movies of the Harry Potter Universe, but I don't heavily borrow from either. If it's a direct moment from the books I will mention it, otherwise I will not do so. The stories I write may be OOC and that's fine. I just want to interpret the story as I see fit.

Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen?

 **Chapter 5: Ron & Ginny**

 **(Sunday after the incident)**

Sunday passed by rather slowly for Hermione. It was already in the late afternoon and she had already finished her homework ages ago. The bushy haired girl was currently reading _Hogwarts, A History_ again for what seemed like the 100th time and was getting bored of that too. She would have liked to have talked to Harry again but unfortunately he was nowhere to be found. She knew at least that last night he came into the common room past curfew and went up to the boys dormitory directly afterwards. Beyond that however, she didn't know where her friend had gone to.

Ron on the other hand was a different story. Hermione had not seen hide nor hair of him and knew that he probably came in very late from detention last night and then awoke early to begin more of his detention today. She wished he would come back so that maybe they could both visit Ginny in the hospital wing before curfew. Even though Ron is incredibly dense, she did fancy him and always wanted to spend time with him.

 _"What in the world is McGonagall making him do anyways? Is she making him scrub all the walls of the castle?"_ thought Hermione.

Hermione quickly pushed this thought out of her mind and laughed. Even if McGonagall assigned Ron to clean something he would try any way possible to get out of it or use magic to assist him. Just as she was wondering what else she could possibly do to pass the time, Ron stepped through the portrait hole and walked over to Hermione.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted with glee.

Hermione immediately got up and ran over to him. She almost tackled Ron to the ground with her intense hug but composed herself when she realized what had happened.

"Ron what are you doing here!? Aren't you supposed to be doing detention with McGonagall?"

"I thought I was too. Frankly Hermione I'm glad she let me go so suddenly. That's not the best part though! I don't have detention anymore!

"What? I thought she said it would be 2 weeks?! What changed her mind?" asked Hermione.

"Well after hearing what you said about Dean cursing my sister, she decided to go easy on me and just make me do all of my homework that Professor Snape assigned for class. Do you realize how long it took for me to write that essay without your help? I had to search book after bloody book for the answer on how to properly protect yourself against the Sectumsempra curse! That's why it took me so long to get my detention over with! I spent nearly all day today trying to finish what I had accomplished from yesterday! Thankfully she ended my detention when I finished that bloody assignment and could see that doing anything that Snape asked was enough punishment for anything." said Ron.

"Oh poor you. You actually HAD to read a book for once to do your homework. Suck it up Ronald Weasley!" said Hermione.

"Hey! Don't give me that! The essay was a lot of work and I thought I would remember this stuff since we went over it a bit at the end of last year!"

"I still can't believe that Umbridge actually thought that teaching that spell to the class was a good idea. Come to think of it that was only one of the few spells she ever demonstrated anyways! Who in their right mind would think that was a practical teaching method?"

"You forget Hermione that this woman used blood quills on us when she found out about Dumbledore's Army. I'm glad she's currently suspended from the Ministry of Magic, but she got off too easy as far as I'm concerned. She should be in Azkaban for all the torture she put us through." said Ron.

"Normally I'd be against sending someone to Azkaban, but I wouldn't feel bad if Umbridge went. She really was a horrible little toad."

The two of them began laughing and it was several minutes before either one of them stopped. Ron then looked around the room and wondered where Harry was.

"Where's Harry? I thought he would have been with you?" asked Ron.

"Honesty Ron I have no idea where he went. I haven't seen him all day today."

"Is he upset Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Well you should know since ... Wait you have no idea what happened since you weren't here! Ok I'll start from the beginning before the fight between Ginny and Dean ok?"

"Can't you just give me the short version? I don't wanna hear about Ginny being hurt or that bastard Dean anymore!" said an annoyed Ron.

"NO YOU GIT! Now listen to what I have to say!" shouted Hermione.

"Fine Hermione."

"THANK YOU! Now as I was saying ... "

Hermione proceeded to tell Ron EVERYTHING that had transpired. When she started talking about Harry proclaiming his love to Ginny, Ron began tightening his fists so hard that his knuckles became white.

" ... Ron why are you upset?" Hermione asked questioningly.

"That git and my sister that's why Hermione! Harry should know better than to mess around with her! She's MY baby sister after all!" said Ron while growling.

"She may be YOUR sister Ron, but she is not a baby by any means. You should be flattered that Harry loves her so much. Do you really want someone else to be dating her anyways? Keep in mind this is your best friend we are talking about here and you have NO SAY whatsoever into what either one of them feel for one another! Besides who could possibly be better for her than Harry? Also, in case your thick skull forgot, Ginny has liked Harry for a long time now! So get your head out of your arse and let me finish my story!" Hermione yelled.

Ron was taken aback by what Hermione had said and realized he had gone a bit overboard with his temper.

"You know you really are scary sometimes Hermione. Brilliant, but scary. Sorry about that Hermione. Keep going with your story."

"Thanks I suppose. Well anyways after Harry wanted to tell Ginny how he felt ... "

Hermione picked up he story once again and got all the way through this time without Ron interrupting once. She mentioned the Liquid Luck, Harry's talk to Slughorn, the information that Hermione had found out as well about the potion, and Harry storming out after blaming himself for everything. By the time she was finished, Ron was absolutely fuming.

"SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT GIT DID THIS TO MY SISTER?! TO THINK THAT I DIDN'T SHATTER HIS KNEE CAPS AFTER BEATING UP DEAN! I'M GOING TO FIND HARRY BLOODY POTTER AND GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND! WHEN IM DONE WITH HIM, THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING LEFT FOR VOLDEMORT TO DESTROY!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs.

Hermione stood up and grabbed her wand. She shoved it into Ron's face and started yelling back at him.

"Weren't you listening to ANYTHING I JUST SAID RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY? Harry and I didn't know that taking a little of Felix Felicis would cause this to happen! If anything this is my fault anyways because I told him to only take a portion of it!" Hermione shouted at Ron.

"STOP COVERING FOR HIM HERMIONE! You may have told him to take some of it, but he still did it on his own. NOT YOU! Harry is going to wish he never did this to my sister!" Ron retaliated.

Ron immediately got up and ran out of the common room before Hermione could hex him. It was now after curfew but he didn't care. He had to find Harry and knock his block off the first chance he could.

Hermione, now incredibly angry at Ron for taking this information the wrong way, sprinted after him but unfortunately lost him around one of the corridors of the castle. She was running out of time and needed to find Harry before Ron did. She only hoped she would get there before it was too late.

As she frantically kept searching for Harry, Hermione could hear Filtch, and his cat Mrs. Norris, around the corridor. The young Gryffindor proceeded to carefully sneak by and hide herself in the nearest broom closet.

 _"Great. Just great. When I absolutely need to find Harry, Filtch just happens to show up! That is so unfair!"_ Hermione thought.

Since she was stuck in the closet for the time being, it seemed that Harry was on his own and would have to deal with Ron and his intense temper. Hermione wished that she could leave soon and find Harry before Ron did something he would regret.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **(Right after Harry left the Hospital Wing on Saturday to the following Monday morning)**

Ginny Weasley was resting in the hospital wing of Hogwarts . It was only a short while ago that Harry had stopped by and announced that he loved her while she was laying in her bed … at least that's what she thought. Ginny wanted to answer him back but her body was far too worn out from the attack. She was also too afraid that what she heard was a dream and her subconscious just told her what she wanted to hear.

 _"Did Harry just say he was going to leave me alone forever? I thought he said he loved me? Maybe this is all a dream."_ thought Ginny.

Too tired to come to a conclusion about her own sanity, Ginny rested all day Saturday and Sunday. She didn't wake up again during that time.

It wasn't until Monday morning that Ginny was even able to move from her bed at all and stretch. However when she began stretching she instantly regretted it. Her ribs were incredibly sore and her face was bruised in some areas but not too bad as far as she was concerned. For the moment, Ginny lied back down and waited for a few minutes for her ribs to stop hurting.

Ginny hated being confined to her bed in the hospital wing. It reminded her of when she was a first year and Harry had just saved her from the Chamber of Secrets. Once she was brought into the hospital wing, her parents and brothers would never leave her alone and cater to her every need. After a few hours it was annoying and Ginny almost screamed at them a few times as well. They were only trying to help, but Ginny was used to doing things for herself and was uncomfortable by all the attention.

Tired of laying in bed, Ginny tried to get out and move her legs. When she got out, the floor seemed a bit too wobbly for her tastes and she fell down.

"Ok. I guess my legs are not used to walking after resting for two days. I'll just take it slow then." Ginny stated outloud.

She never got the chance however as Madam Pomfrey rushed over to "help" her out.

"MISS WEASLEY! Why are you out of bed!? You should be resting from your attack! If you need something then I will get it for you!" shouted Madam Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey please! I'm just a little unused to walking after 2 days. I'm fine really!"

"Nonsense child. Get back into bed and take this pepper-up potion now!" said Madam Pomfrey.

Not wanting to have an all day feud with the woman, Ginny did as she was told. Grabbing the potion from the matron's hands, Ginny downed the entire liquid and made a disgusted face after tasting it.

"Oh come now Weasley. It's just a pepper-up potion! You're lucky I didn't have to give you skele-grow. If you ever want a foul tasting drink that is probably the only place you'll ever need to go."

Ginny couldn't argue with that. Harry once told her that it was the most vile and disgusting drink ever concocted. What's worse was when you drank it, the liquid coated itself around your esophagus and burned all the way down into your intestines. Not to mention the excruciating pain that came along with trying to mend or replace bones in the human body. Ginny wished she never will have to experience that potion ever in her lifetime.

 _"Wait! Harry! I need to know where he is! I need to know what he wanted on Saturday before the whole thing happened with Dean."_ thought Ginny.

"Madam Pomfrey! Can you tell me if anything interesting happened the last few days? Did anyone come and see me?"

"Yes unfortunately you did have a visitor. Unfortunately it was just Potter. I swear that boy is going to end up permanently attached to his bed here in the hospital wing one day." said Madam Pomfrey.

 _"Good,"_ Ginny thought. _"At least I know he was here. Now I need to know what else happened."_

"Did he say anything when he came here? What about Dean? Where is that no good EX-boyfriend of mine?" asked Ginny.

"If Potter did say something then he must have done it when I wasn't around. He did come around twice though on Saturday. The first was when he carried you from the common room to here, and the second was later in the afternoon. On Sunday night he tried coming in, but I had to turn him away because there was a nasty case of Wizard Flu going on with one of my patients. After that I haven't seen him since. As for Dean, well, since you're probably wanting to get some revenge on him from what happened, I regret to inform you that he has been expelled from Hogwarts. If you want to punch him into the next century, and I wouldn't blame you of course, I would start by looking for him at his home and go from there." said Madam Pomfrey.

"Good. That asshole deserved more than just expulsion however. He shouldn't feel safe again until I hex him with my Bat-Bogey hex for at least an hour straight. I would advise him to sleep with one eye open for a while, but even telling him that is too good for him."

Madam Pomfrey laughed when she heard this and proceeded to carry on with her duties.

"Wait Madam Pomfrey I need to ask you one more thing!"

"Yes Miss Weasley what is it?"

"If you happen to see Harry can you please tell him to come see me? I really need to talk to him it's important." said Ginny.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and walked back over to the other area of the wing to check on her remainder of her potion supplies. Suddenly the mediwitch turned back around once more towards Ginny Weasley.

"Oh Miss Weasley I almost forgot. One of your friends is in the hospital wing. If you want to go ahead and see them you are more than welcome to." said Madam Pomfrey.

Ginny's eyes widened in response.

"Who is it?" asked Ginny.


	6. Chapter 6: The Fight and Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, moments, or plots from the books in the Harry Potter universe or anything that's written by JK Rowling. I do not make any money on this either. This is purely for my benefit and nothing else.

Note: I try to use themes and moments from the books and movies of the Harry Potter Universe, but I don't heavily borrow from either. If it's a direct moment from the books I will mention it, otherwise I will not do so. The stories I write may be OOC and that's fine. I just want to interpret the story as I see fit.

Summary: During HBP, Harry uses the vial of Liquid Luck earlier than intended in the books and for a new reason entirely. What will happen?

 **Chapter 6: The Fight and Aftermath**

 **(Sunday night after Ron stormed out to find Harry)**

Harry was sitting underneath the tree at his secluded spot near the Black Lake. After going over the events again and again in his head he began to see reason a bit more than the day before.

 _"Maybe.. Maybe this isn't all my fault. I didn't know about the dangers of "misusing" this potion but that's still no excuse. I know I overreacted but I hurt Ginny and in the end I can't have her hate Hermione because of me. I will go tell her that it was my fault no matter what Hermione says. That way Ginny can only be mad at me. Or she could just blame the whole thing on Dean and then I'd be off the hook completely."_

Harry chuckled at his own thoughts. He was finally starting to feel better about the whole incident with Ginny and Dean because of his misuse of the Felix Felicis potion, but he still wanted time away from others in order to do the one thing he wanted most: watch over Ginny from afar. The hidden spot he had been staying at conveniently had a view that stared straight into the hospital wing of Hogwarts. This may have felt somewhat creepy to be watching Ginny from so far away, but it was the only way he could tell she was safe.

 _"Rest Ginny, and feel better,"_ Harry thought. _"I only wish I could be with you now and tell you how sorry I am. With any luck you'll be feeling better soon. I just hope that.."_

"HARRY POTTER!"

When he heard his name being called rather loudly, Harry looked around and was not able to place a face to the person who screamed his name so he shrugged it off. A few moments Harry heard his name once again but it ended being even louder than the last one.

"HARRY POTTER! COME OUT HERE YOU COWARD AND FACE ME!"

 _"What the blazes?"_ thought Harry.

Harry sat there dumbfounded as to who would want to look for him at this time of night. Suddenly the voice who interrupted Harry's thoughts once again spoke up.

"HARRY BLOODY POTTER! GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE YOU COWARD!"

 _"A COWARD AM I? Well I did admit it in front of Hermione and Ginny so it is true, but I am not going to take this lying down. I better go see what this bloke wants."_ thought Harry.

As Harry stepped out from his spot and headed towards the Quidditch pitch to see who the angered voice belonged to, he immediately saw red hair and realized it must be Ron.

"Ron? You're the one shouting at the top of your lungs to find me?" asked Harry.

"That's right Potter! Hermione told me all about how even though Dean may have been the one who cursed my sister, it was YOU dabbling in magic you have no idea about that caused harm upon her. Now that she's in the hospital wing and unconscious, I figure it's only fair I send you there as well, BUT IN PIECES! EXPELLIARMUS!" Ron yelled.

Harry dodged Ron's spell and began firing "STUPEFY" spells back at his confused friend. After several shouts of "EXPELLIARMUS" and "REDUCTO" the two of them sort of settled down and Harry tried talking to Ron once again.

"Ron stop! I get that you're mad at me! After thinking it over I realize that while I am to blame, I didn't know this would happen! Please believe me! I would NEVER do anything to harm Ginny I swear."

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT! BOMBARDA!" screamed Ron.

"PROTEGO," Harry yelled as quick as he could before the Bombarda hex hit his magical shield. Whatever Ron wanted out of all this, it appeared that an apology was the last thing on his mind. He wanted blood; Harry's blood. Suddenly a voice from the shadows resonated which caused both boys to stop and look over. It was Hermione.

"RON STOP! It's not Harry's fault in all of this! I need you to listen and see reason please! Now please lower your wand and we can all talk about this rationally." exclaimed Hermione.

"Why are you taking HIS side Hermione? He hurt Ginny! He should be castrated for putting my sister in the hospital wing! While it should be Ginny that does the honors, I will settle for knocking Harry out and dropping him off in the hospital wing with a few broken bones first!"

"NO RON," Hermione screamed. "STOP ALL OF THIS NOW!"

As soon as Ron began firing Bombarda curses again at his best mate, Harry instantly brought up his magical shield once again but this time something drastic happened in the process. Since Ron was firing the curse at such a short range, the magical energy from the Bombarda spell deflected off of Harry's Protego shield and instead hit Hermione in the stomach with all the intensity that Ron's wand had managed to create. Hermione then flew back about 10 feet from the two boys and landed on her back with a hard **THUD**.

Harry ran over to Hermione and checked on her. She was out like a light but didn't appear to have any broken bones.

"You ... You hurt Hermione. She's the closest thing to a sister that I have." said Harry.

After realizing that Hermione was ok, Harry immediately began seeing red all around him. His fury was so intense that he picked up his wand and turned around to face Ron. He was going to pay for what he did to her!

"THATS IT RON! YOU WANTED A FIGHT, YOU GOT ONE!" said an extremely pissed off Harry.

Harry and Ron pointed their wands furiously at each other. They never got the chance to do anything else though because someone else wanted this fight to be over.

"STOP! STOP THIS FIGHTING BOTH OF YOU AT ONCE!" said an older voice.

Harry and Ron both turned around to see Dumbledore standing near the end of the Quidditch pitch. The old wizard had been watching the whole thing from the high towers of Hogwarts and rushed down as fast as he could to tear these two Gryffindors apart.

"I'm really surprised in you two. Someone could have been seriously hurt more than Ms. Granger had!" said Dumbledore.

He then looked down at Hermione and saw some discomfort in her face. Dumbledore then turned back to the two boys.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. I have no choice but to take away 50 points away from Gryffindor and assign you both detention for the next month. Meet me after classes tomorrow and the both of you can get started on your punishments. Now please come with me while we drop Ms. Granger off in the hospital wing."

Ron was flabbergasted by Dumbledore's swift judgement and stood there for a second dumbfounded before he spoke up again.

"50 POINTS?! AND DETENTION?!" Ron yelled.

"50 points each Mr. Weasley. Now don't start fighting again or it'll be 100 each! Please come with me at once!" exclaimed Dumbledore.

Ron was still furious and wanted to stick it to Harry again. "100 bloody points Potter! Great! Gryffindor will never win the house cup at this rate! Thanks a lot scar-head!"

Harry scowled at this comment but shrug it off after a few moments.

Ron shot Harry another dirty look and then walked off from the professor and his best mate. He was still upset over Harry being the one responsible for Ginny's condition and he swore he would get even with him, or at least let Ginny have her way with punishing him.

 _"Eww NOT like that!"_ Ron thought. _"I REALLY hope not like that. Potter needs to be punished for doing that to my sister and Ginny is probably the best for the job ... Wow that sounded even more wrong than the last comment! Whatever. Potter will get what's coming to him!"_

Meanwhile Harry was having completely different thoughts as he began walking back to the castle.

 _"Hermione I'm so sorry I got you hurt. I really hope Pomfrey doesn't kick me out again so that I can see you. That's 3 people now I've hurt in some way within the last 2 days! I dont care what Ron is going through right now because he's being an absolute git, but I dont know if I can take any more people getting hurt. What else could go wrong at this point?!"_

Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore took Hermione to he hospital wing but once they arrived none of them were allowed entrance by Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, but there's a student in here with a very contagious illness and I really don't want any of you three to catch it."

"How serious is it Madam Pomfrey?" asked Dumbledore.

"It's nothing I can't handle. However, if you don't want to be so sick that your skin turns scaly and you start coughing up slugs then I suggest you steer clear until tomorrow." stated Madam Pomfrey.

All three of the men grimaced after hearing Madam Pomfrey speak about the I'll student. After rolling her eyes, she continued to talk to Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh come off it now you three! I will take Ms. Granger from here. You all can come visit tomorrow once I have that area of the wing decontaminated."

Dumbledore then gave Hermione over to the medical matron and then turned to Harry and Ron.

"Now boys you must promise me to go to bed at once. If I hear any more disruptions from either of you tonight, I'll double the detention punishment. Is that clear?"

"Yes professor," said the both of them.

"Good. Goodnight to you both." said Dumbledore.

"Goodnight sir." said the young Gryffindors.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **(Monday morning after Ginny wakes up and asks Madam Pomfrey about her hurt friend)**

"Madam Pomfrey I asked you a question. Which one of my friends ended up in the hospital wing?!" asked a nervously anxious Ginny.

Ginny felt like she had to wait forever for the answer from the medical matron. She finally heard from Pomfrey that it was in fact Hermione, and at that point she let out a small gasp.

"Can I see her now?! I promise not to go to far from my bed!" said Ginny.

"Yes Ms. Weasley, but you have to go back to bed the second you are done talking to Ms. Granger or I'll have you stay another few days. Deal?"

Not having much choice in the matter, Ginny agreed and started following Madam Pomfrey to the best of her abilities. Her legs would need some more practice walking around in order to not feel so wobbly but at least she didn't fall when Hermione finally came into view. She was busy reading one of her books and didn't notice Ginny coming by. Ginny thought this would be a fine time to scare the bookworm a little.

"HERMIONE!" screamed Ginny. At this point Hermione shook with fright and the book she was reading fumbled out of her hands and on to the floor. Ginny almost fell over from laughing so hard. Once she collected herself, Ginny began speaking once again.

"Get your head out of that book and say hi you twit!" said Ginny.

Hermione gave an embarrassing blush when looking at her red haired friend. She then quickly got up, put her book down on the bed after retrieving it, and then gave Ginny a fierce hug.

"Ginny! You're okay! I'm so glad you're alright. Do you know if you can leave soon? Has anyone stopped by yet? Do you know what's been going on since you were unconscious? ..."

Ginny kind of regretted saying hello to Hermione only because it meant that the bushy haired girl would ask her a ton of questions that she would pile on the moment she could.

"Hold on Hermione answer me this. Why are you here? This isn't like you to end up in the hospital wing. Did something bad happen?" asked Ginny.

Hermione looked a little hesitant to answer at first but then decided to come forward with the truth.

"Ginny it was an accident. Ron shot a spell at Harry and since his Protego was very close to me it bounced off and hit me in the stomach."

Ginny was livid. "Of course my prat headed brother would be the one to send you to the hospital! Here I thought it would have been someone nefarious like Malfoy but instead it was that git I unfortunately share my blood with!"

"Ginny you don't mean that. Ron is annoying when it comes to listening and taking matters into his own hands, but it wasn't all his fault." said a less than confident Hermione.

Hermione could tell that Ginny was still upset but she decided to change the subject by going back to the questions she originally asked Ginny. The red headed girl started talking again and decided to forget about her brother's stupidity for the time being.

" _When will I get out?_ I'm not sure yet. It depends on how I'm feeling for the rest of the day. _What have I heard while I was out?_ Dean is gone thank god and Ron has detention with McGonagall even though he was just trying to get some revenge on my ex."

Hermione then proceeded to stop Ginny and inform her the updated news.

"Actually Ginny, Ron is not having detention with McGonagall anymore. She let him go after finishing his written essay for Professor Snape. However, he and Harry now have detentions for the next month because of the fight they had and they also lost 100 points from Gryffindor total for fighting out on the Quidditch pitch last night." said a nervous Hermione.

"WHAT?! You didn't tell me that blockhead lost 100 points for our house! Also how is Harry involved? What is his role in all of this?" asked Ginny who was furious beyond all belief now.

Even though Hermione was not there, she heard all the details from Dumbledore this morning when he returned to check on her from the previous night. When she told Ginny what happened, Hermione decided to leave out the reason why the two boys were fighting for now. Hermione knew that Harry would not be pleasant with her if she tried to "cover" for him when really it was not his fault at all.

Ginny was a bit confused as to why her prat brother and Harry were fighting but maybe if she kept answering Hermione's questions she may open up.

"Anyways," Ginny said now trying to finish up Hermione's questions. "The only person I know that has visited me was Harry because he carried me all the way from Gryffindor tower to here to make sure I was safe."

"You know he did that for you? Sounds like your knight in shining armor came through once again." Hermione stated while she winked at Ginny.

Ginny smiled when she thought of Harry bringing her down to the hospital wing like that. She blushed and then began answering Hermione.

"Yes. Madam Pomfrey actually thought he was the one who hurt me at first and was 10 seconds away from blasting him into next year."

Both girls started laughing uncontrollably for a few moments before Ginny resumed talking again.

"The second I leave here Hermione, I am going to find him and ask him something really important. It's been too long since I've spent any time with Harry and I want him to know how much he means to me. Plus I owe him for taking me down to the hospital wing. I don't know anyone who would do that for me."

After hearing this, Hermione began staring at the floor and didn't want to look at Ginny. She knew if her red headed friend found out about Harry possibly being the reason she was in the hospital wing, she may never forgive him.

 _"Looks like I don't have a choice,"_ thought Hermione. _"I know Harry will be mad at me, and possibly Ginny as well in case this turns out bad, but if they do have a chance to be together I don't want it to be strained because of what Harry may say about Felix Felicis, even if it means that she may be upset at me ... Well here goes nothing."_

"Ginny we've been friends for a long time now right?" asked Hermione.

"Yes of course. Hermione, you're closest friend here at Hogwarts and the sister I've never had!" said Ginny.

Hermione was grateful that Ginny felt that way about her and was truly honored that she considered Ginny a sister as well. Without thinking too much more about it, Hermione snapped back to reality.

"What's wrong Hermione? Did something else happen that I'm not aware of?" asked Ginny.

"Yes there is something. I need to tell you about what really happened that day when Dean fired that curse at you ... something that you may not have realized was happening at the time."

Putting two and two together, Ginny spoke up and said:

"Does this have anything to do with why Harry and Ron were fighting last night?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes it does. When I tell you what happened, I want you to please not blame Harry for any of this. Believe me when I say that the fault is entirely mine and even I had no idea what would happen." said Hermione.

"Wait Harry is behind this somehow? Is he the one who told Dean to hex me? Wait no he wouldn't do that ... Would he? How could he Hermione?! I trusted him!" shouted Ginny.

"Ginny stop! You're not listening! Yes Harry is involved with the situation I am about to tell you, but he's not behind anything! He never planned for any of this to happen and nor did he want it to either! What I am about to tell you is based off of pure intentions on both his part and mine! It really is not his fault." stated Hermione.

Ginny, now more confused than she was a minute ago, tried to wrap her head around what riddles Hermione was speaking. After shaking it off she asked her friend to please explain once again what was going on. It was at that point that Hermione told Ginny everything that was going on starting from a month ago when Harry won the small vial of Felix Felicis and ending from fight the night before.

After what seemed like a few hours, Hermione was finally done telling her story. The only thing Hermione intentionally left out was most of what Harry had said about Ginny because the bushy haired girl wanted him to do that himself. Ginny was sitting there on her friend's hospital bed shocked beyond belief and couldn't even make out sentences.

"I... I um... Wow that... But... Hermione I don't know what to say" said Ginny. Truth be told Ginny was surprised she even got that out without tripping all over her own words and mumbling everything.

"You see? I told you that you needed to listen to me," said Hermione with a look that only read as being a bit smug.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes yes you're the most intelligent being on the planet and we must bow to your vast knowledge."

Hermione threw her pillow at Ginny and the two then started laughing once again. After a few minutes, Ginny spoke up again.

"So Hermione. You mentioned that I should be blaming you for everything that went wrong with Felix Felicis and not Harry. I just wanted to point out that saving most of the potion for something life threatening was a great idea. Liquid Luck or not, it was still Dean's choice to hex me and I'm glad he did because now I am free to find other potential boyfriends who will do a much better job than that arse." Ginny paused for a brief moment before continuing. "Also, Hermione, I wanted to mention that I would have done the exact same thing in your shoes in regards to telling Harry how to use the potion, but I would have advised him to drink less. Telling someone their feelings doesn't require luck at all, it requires courage."

Hermione stood there dumbfounded and she heard everything that came out of Ginny's mouth. "Well I must say I'm impressed Ginny. For a moment I thought you were going to blow up at me like Ron did and want Harry's blood flowing throughout the halls of the school. Thankfully I can see you're the more sensible one about these things and you're also more insightful as well. Thank you for listening to me. I only wish your brother was more understanding like you." said Hermione.

Ginny was on the verge of being nauseous when imagining Hermione and Ron together. She already knew that Hermione had feelings for Ron, but her thick headed brother was too stupid to ask her out already so Ginny decided to not speak ill of him for now in order to not hurt Hermione's feelings.

"Well thanks Hermione. Like I said earlier I don't blame you or Harry. In fact I want to reward you both for freeing me from Dean," said Ginny.

"I'm not sure I would want the same reward you are going to offer to Harry. Besides I don't need anything, I just want you to be happy and not upset with either of us," said Hermione.

Ginny blushed at her friend's statement and nodded in agreement as to how she was feeling. "Yeah there's no possible way you're getting the same reward as him. That would be entirely too weird," said Ginny.

Both girls laughed again and it was at this point that Madam Pomfrey decided to come back and ask Ginny to return to her own bed and get more rest. The two girls complied and it was only at that point that they realized it was almost dinner time. After saying goodbye to Hermione, Ginny complied with the medical matron and got back into bed. Before she left, Ginny spoke up to Madam Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey I need you to do something for me please. I need you to get Harry over here as soon as possible please. It's really important and I may need him to spend time after curfew to talk to me. This really cannot wait. I know he has detention soon with Ron, but I really do need to talk to him."

Madam Pomfrey could tell that Ginny was entirely serious even though she would have normally dismissed this idea and told her to just talk to Potter when she got out.

"I cannot right now Ms. Weasley but I can go in a few hours once Mr. Potter begins his detention if you want," asked Madam Pomfrey.

Ginny simply nodded and rested her head on the pillow. A few moments later she began resting.

 _"Well whatever she needs to say to him, it better be important,"_ thought Madam Pomfrey as she proceeded to assist her other patients.


	7. Chapter 7: Harry & Ginny

**Chapter 7: Harry and Ginny**

 **(After dinner on Monday)**

At 7 PM that evening, Dumbledore received a knock on his door and speculated it must have been Harry and Ron for the beginning of their series of detentions. Once the door opened, his assumptions were proven to be correct.

"Ah Harry and Ron. Good to see you both."

Ron grumbled a little because he still felt that Harry should be the one in detention instead of both of them. Harry however was just a little annoyed with having to do his detention with Ron because he was sure his red haired friend would most likely start another fight at some point.

"Would either one of you care for a lemon drop?" asked Dumbledore. When neither one of the Gryffindors said anything, Dumbledore spoke up again. "I haven't poisoned them boys, I promise."

"No thank you sir" said Harry.

"Lemon is not my favorite fruit sir." said Ron.

Dumbledore continued talking. "No matter. Now while I have assigned the both of you detentions for the next month, I promise to not be too strict on punishments while I have you serving your time with me. Your punishments won't always be with me however, and I cannot promise the other professors will feel as easy going as I am, but I do try to be a little more lenient with my punishments."

"Thank you sir." said the two Gryffindors.

"Now on to business." said Dumbledore. "For tonight's task I would like the both of you to clean up my office. It has become rather stuffy as of late and it could use a good cleaning. Harry I would like you to dust and organize all of my books on the bookshelf alphabetically please. Ron I have several paintings in the back of my office that could also use a good dusting as well. If you will kindly follow me I can show you where they are."

Dumbledore was about to assist Ron in getting to the back, when a knock on the Headmaster's door caused the three men present to turn their heads.

"Come in please," said Dumbledore.

Madam Pomfrey entered the office and shut the door behind her. Harry instantly became nervous when the matron came in because he figured she was gonna try and get him into the hospital wing and be confined to a bed for whatever reason. Sometimes Harry really did think the woman was worse than Snape, but he would never let her know.

"Headmaster I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have been constantly bugged by Ms. Weasley to come and retrieve Mr. Potter at the earliest convenience. If he were to go, I could finally get some peace of mind away from that girl. Sometimes I wonder whether Molly or Ginny Weasley is the more frustrating one to deal with," said Madam Pomfrey.

Ron immediately shot daggers at Harry when he heard Ginny wanted to see him. "Why does Harry get to leave? In case you noticed Professor, we are about to begin our detentions now" said an annoyed Ron.

Harry really wanted to stupefy Ron into the next century after hearing his whiny voice, but kept his anger in check as Dumbledore turned to him.

"Well Harry it seems your presence is requested in the hospital wing. I'll excuse your detention tonight, but I want you to stay twice as long tomorrow in order to make up the time lost. Is that fair?"

Harry was almost astounded as he was told that his detention was off for the night. "Yes sir that is more than fair. Thanks for letting me go." said Harry.

"No problem Harry. Now while I am letting you go, I must insist that you please return to your dormitory once the visit with Ms. Weasley is over and not go anywhere else. I may not be always waking the halls, but I do have my eyes and ears everywhere," said Dumbledore.

Harry nodded and began following Madam Pomfrey from the headmaster's office down the steps of the castle. On his way out, Harry could hear Ron groan again as he was about to be shown where all the dusty paintings were and began snickering.

About 10 minutes later, Madam Pomfrey and Harry Potter reached the doors to the hospital wing. It was at this point when Harry immediately started feeling nervous because he would now have to face Ginny. However he knew that just standing outside the hall forever would not get him anywhere.

"Well here goes nothing." Harry muttered under his breath.

Madam Pomfrey opened the doors to the hospital wing and began heading to the back with Harry. When she neared her desk, Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry and began to speak.

"Mr. Potter I will give you until the medical wing closes which should be in a few hours from now. Once it closes, I will need you to leave." said Madam Pomfrey.

Harry nodded and Madam Pomfrey continued speaking.

"Now if you can promise to not be a nuisance, I will tell you where Ms. Weasley's bed is. She is currently residing at the end of the wing on the right hand side and should be easy to find. Also I want you to relay a message to her please. Tell her that I'm not doing any more favors for her while she is under my care. Sorry Potter, but I'm not going to keep busting you out of detention just to see Ms. Weasley. You can come visit during normal visiting hours from now on." said Madam Pomfrey.

Not needing another excuse to leave, Harry turned from the medical matron and headed out of her office towards the patient wing. The young Gryffindor began walking slower than usual in order to gather his thoughts before seeing Ginny.

 _"What if she hates me? I hope Hermione promised not to say anything because if anyone is to blame it's me. Well I guess the only thing I can do is talk to Ginny and see how she feels."_ Harry thought.

Harry turned another corner of the hospital wing and kept going straight on but saw no sign of Ginny.

" _I know I went to the right place. I'm in this place often enough to find my way around the patient ward_ ," thought Harry.

Just as Harry was planning on turning back and looking down the other corridors of the hospital wing, he heard very muffled footsteps behind him. Harry looked behind him and saw that it was his psuedo sister, Hermione.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed as she ran to him and gave him the strongest hug of his life. "Harry I am so glad you're here! Wait … aren't you supposed to be in detention or something?" asked Hermione.

"Well I was supposed to but then Madam Pomfrey "rescued" me and brought me here because Ginny really needed to talk to me." said Harry.

"Wow I am impressed. Normally Madam Pomfrey doesn't give into any demands from a student, but since she did something for Ginny it seems like she cares a lot for her." said Hermione.

Harry began asking Hermione how she was to which she responded with an expected "Fine but bored."

Harry laughed a little. "Yeah I know for a fact it can get quite dreadful around here if you are kept in this wing for too long."

"Yes that is true. I am quite ready to leave this place and not come back for a while. I don't understand how you handled it for so long here. I mean I already finished my homework for the next week, and I can only read for so long before each paragraph becomes harder and harder to finish." said Hermione.

"I understand. Hey Hermione, I am glad you're okay but I should probably go see how Ginny is doing before Madam Pomfrey decides to get rid of me. Do you know where I can find her?" asked Harry.

"Well … actually Harry she's right behind you." said Hermione who now had a smug smile on her face.

Harry turned around and saw that it was indeed Ginny Weasley. At first, Harry was surprised because she now looked a lot like her old self and had very little cuts and bruises on her face. To Harry, she was still as beautiful as ever. With his thoughts overwhelmingly overjoyed to see Ginny, he tried to focus on what she had to say.

"Harry you came. I am really glad you're here." said Ginny. She now had a huge grin on her face and began staring at Harry waiting to hear a response.

Harry was having some trouble trying to form his thoughts into sentences. "Ginny .. You look amazing .. I mean amazing for being in the hospital wing .. Wait no that's not a bad thing that's really good considering … OK. Ok ok. How are you doing Ginny?" Harry stammered.

Ginny laughed a little before answering once again. "I'm doing much better now that you're here."

Hermione, feeling more like a third wheel with each passing second, decided to excuse herself from this area of the hospital wing and said she would return to her bed. After saying bye to both Harry and Ginny, the bushy haired girl returned to one of her books to keep herself busy once again.

Now that Hermione was gone, the tension between Harry and Ginny was now so thick that anyone could cut it with a knife. After a few minutes of awkwardly staring at each other and not saying anything, Ginny decided to speak up.

"Would you like to sit down?" Ginny asked as she motioned Harry over to her bed.

"Yes I think that would help." said Harry.

As Harry sat down, he noticed that Ginny decided to get inside her bed again and shuffled close to him. After another moment of silence, the both of them spoke.

"I can't believe that … / Ginny I …"

Ginny chuckled a little. Harry motioned for her to go first.

"Harry I can't believe that you're here. I'm surprised you would even come considering we haven't spoken to each other or even been around each other for over a month." said Ginny.

Harry stared at Ginny longingly and after deciding that enough was enough, the young man pulled Ginny into a hug. The youngest Weasley gave a small "Eeep!" because she was caught off guard by Harry's hug, but quickly returned the gesture. While still holding her, Harry spoke to Ginny once more.

"Ginny … " Harry was having a tough time trying to get out his words because his eyes were getting mistier by the second. "Ginny … I … I missed you so much. I just wished that I could have spent some time, any time really, just to be around you once more. When you left, my whole life became dreary and miserable with each passing day." said Harry who had a few tears coming down his face.

"I know Harry I felt the same way. Please believe me that I didn't want to leave you at all, but I had no choice!" stated Ginny.

"What do you mean? What's been going on Ginny?" asked a concerned Harry.

"Harry at first I was really ecstatic over dating Dean and everything was fine for the most part until he started getting "protective" of me. I couldn't go anywhere without him or his friends nearby, he kept me isolated from you, Ron, and Hermione because he was jealous of my crush on you that I had ever since I was a little girl. On occasion whenever we would have disagreements, he would either make me feel stupid for trying to defy him, or even sometimes, he would hit me and force me to see that his way was right." said Ginny.

It was at this point that Harry's eyes erupted with fire and his fists were balling up. The young Gryffindor had never been so angered in his life to learn that Ginny had been treated that way.

"Ginny if I had known I would have done something I swear. I'm so sorry that he treated you like that. Did you ever try to get any help?" asked Harry.

Ginny was touched that Harry cared. "Thank you Harry and to answer your question, yes I tried. I almost spilled everything out to Lavender Brown one day after class, but Dean's cronies were nearby watching me, and I couldn't do anything about it. Later on, Dean found out and threatened me that if I tried to get any more help, he would cause some serious harm to you." said Ginny.

It was now Ginny's turn to become upset and she began sobbing. She covered her face with her hands while Harry rubbed her back and held her close.

"Shhh Ginny it's ok he can't hurt you any more. I promise you won't ever have to go through that any more with him." said Harry.

"I know Harry. I know. It just hurts still because I could have left him a long time ago, but couldn't because I was afraid. I often questioned why I was placed in Gryffindor while I was in this relationship with Dean. Most of the time my courage seemed to disappear whenever I wanted to try and seek help or just go on with my day." said Ginny.

"I'm so sorry again Ginny. Not just for Dean and how he was treating you, but for being the reason why you are in the hospital wing in the first place." said Harry.

Ginny's cries slowed to a halt and proceeded to give Harry a scowl. "Harry don't you apologize for this. Don't apologize ever for doing what you did. Hermione told me what happened, and before you even think of getting on her case Potter, realize that I am not mad at either one of you for the accident. She was only trying to take the supposed blame so that I wouldn't hate you, but in reality I should be thanking you both for causing the relationship I had with Dean to be over." said Ginny.

"But Ginny … If I hadn't taken so little of the Felix Felicis, then you wouldn't have gotten hurt at all! You didn't see yourself covered in blood and your face bashed in like it was. I couldn't believe what that bastard did to you in the common room, but I felt even more guilty once I realized that the whole thing was set in motion BECAUSE OF ME!" exclaimed Harry.

"STOP IT HARRY!" Ginny shouted. "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! Do not take the blame for what my ex-boyfriend did to me because NONE of it is your fault. I don't care what sort of guilt you have right now. Just please accept that you were only trying to talk to me and nothing more. If our roles were reversed I would have done the exact same thing."

"Really you would?" asked Harry.

"Yes. Yes I would Harry and do you know why?" asked Ginny.

"Tell me."

"Harry you are my best friend. You're the one person I want to go to when I am scared, or upset, or mad about something every single time. Whenever I look into your amazing eyes, my problems just melt away and I feel so safe and secure. I cannot imagine you not being in my life. Ever since you saved my life in the Chamber of Secrets, and not to mention saved the life of my father from Voldemort, I have been trying to think of some way I could ever repay you for your selfless kindness that you have bestowed on me and my family. You are without a doubt the greatest person a friend could ask for, and I meant what I said with all my heart. I'm so glad you're my friend and I would do anything to get you back if you were not speaking to me. You may not realize it Harry, but I am not the only one who thinks so. We Weasleys are entirely in your debt and will always consider you to be family no matter what." said Ginny.

Harry was in awe of what Ginny had just stated to him. "You … You don't need to thank me Ginny. None of you do." said Harry.

"Oh but that's where you're wrong Potter." said Ginny. "I cannot possibly thank you enough for getting me out of this predicament with Dean, as well as everything else you have done for me and my family. As a small token of my appreciation, I would like to give you something. Something I should have given you a long time ago."

"And what would that be Ginny?" asked Harry.

Ginny stared into Harry's intense emerald eyes and proceeded to inch closer to him without breaking contact. Now realizing that she was very close to Harry, Ginny rested her head on his forehead and spoke up once again.

"I love you Harry. I deeply, truly, love you with all my heart and soul." said Ginny.

It was at this point that the youngest Weasley crushed her lips on Harry's and proceeded to kiss him rather passionately. Harry was a little shocked as to how bold Ginny was, but he was certainly not complaining. As he returned the kiss that Ginny had given him, Harry put his hand behind her head and started running his fingers through her scarlet hair. Her hair was so silky and soft just as Harry had imagined. The two teenagers continued kissing one another for a few more minutes before they stopped and gasped for the air that was missing in their lungs.

"Sweet Merlin Ginny. You took my breath away." said Harry.

Ginny nodded happily and closed her eyes. She felt ecstatic for kissing her long time crush and wanted to do it again as soon as possible. Ginny opened her eyes and pulled Harry into another spine-tingling kiss that shook her to the core. After a few more minutes, Ginny released her lips from his and laid her head on Harry's chest. Harry simply began holding Ginny in his arms and the two of them did not say a word to one another. It was a short time later that Harry spoke up again.

"Ginny? Did you mean everything you said about loving me?" asked Harry.

Ginny looked into his eyes and said "Yes Harry. I've loved you the moment I woke up from being rescued in the chamber during my first year. I wanted to tell you for so long but was afraid of what you would say or how you would feel." said Ginny. "Do you … Do you love me back, Harry? Also if you do, do you know for how long you have loved me?"

Harry stared at her longingly and began running his fingers through Ginny's hair again. Ginny closed her eyes and began listening to Harry's heartbeat which seemed to make her even more calm than she was a few moments ago.

"Ginny. All I've wanted is to be with you and be in love with you. You're absolutely perfect in every way Ginny. Of course I love you beyond comprehension and I actually wanted to ask you out before school started but you already had someone. It tore me up inside because you weren't with me, but I really tried to be happy about it. As for how long I felt something for you, I don't exactly have an answer." said Harry.

Ginny began looking at Harry once again. "What do you mean Harry?"

"Well, I do know that I felt something for you once Tom disappeared in the Chamber of Secrets. You have no idea how scary it was to see you there lifeless and an inch away from death on the cold stone floor. I really felt like I was too late and couldn't save you. Once you woke up, I knew I really wanted to get to know you better but something happened. I think that Ron was trying to not let me see you as anything more than his sister, so I buried my feelings deep down and didn't say anything. For the next few years it was the same way but my feelings were always there." said Harry.

After taking a quick sigh, Harry began explaining the next part of his tale. "Then last year I made the unfortunate mistake of going after Cho Chang. There was a DA meeting towards Christmas where everyone left afterwards and it was just me and her alone. We ended up kissing but it didn't feel great to me. There was no spark and I realized it must have been because of my feelings for you, but once I figured it out, it was too late because you were with Michael Corner."

"Oh Harry. I wish I would have known. I would never have gone out with him at all to be honest, but I was trying so hard to get over a certain raven haired boy with the most incredible green eyes. I really thought you didn't see me for who I was and a relationship with you was never going to happen." said Ginny.

Harry held Ginny closer. "Ginny it's okay. It really was my fault because I knew you still had feelings for me because of what Ron would normally say about you, but I brushed them off because I didn't want to lose your brother as a friend. I'm really sorry."

"It's ok Harry. I understand. I really do." said Ginny.

"I'm glad Ginny." said Harry. At that point Harry stood up and pulled Ginny up from the bed. "Ginny I think we shouldn't focus on the past too much right now. The best thing to do is to focus on us. Do you agree?"

Ginny smiled and nodded at Harry. "Good I feel the same way. Now I have something important I must ask you Ginny. Will you make me the happiest guy in Hogwarts and be my girlfriend?" asked Harry.

Ginny squealed and almost tackled Harry to the ground. She pressed her lips to his once again and after a few moments of snogging, Ginny released herself and answered Harry back. "YES! Yes yes yes! I will absolutely be your girlfriend. I've wanted nothing else since I was 11 years old." said Ginny.

The two teenagers spent the next few hours just talking, kissing, and holding each other in the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfrey returned to ask Harry to leave. As he got up, he turned to Ginny once more and kissed her goodbye. Ginny waved at him as he exited the Hospital Wing and, once he was gone, the young red head immediately went to Hermione and told her everything that had happened. Hermione was extremely happy for Ginny, and gave her a hug that made them both feel great inside.


	8. Chapter 8: Epilogue

**Chapter 8: Epilogue**

A few days later, Ginny was finally released from the Hospital Wing and sprinted as fast as she could to the Gryffindor common room. It was the late afternoon and she knew that Harry would be starting his detention soon, but she wanted to see Harry once more before the punishments began. After giving the Fat Lady the password to the common room, Ginny patiently waited for her boyfriend to appear. It was about 10 minutes later when she heard someone come down from the boy's dormitories and turned around to see who it was.

Harry was not looking forward to going to detention once again. Last night he ended up alphabetizing all of Snape's ingredients while listening to insults about his father from the greasy haired professor. As he headed down the stairs and into the common room, Harry saw his girlfriend on the couch in front of the fire and went over to her immediately. After kissing each other for a few minutes, and receiving some calming words from Ginny, Harry knew he could face whatever punishment was in store for him that evening. Before he left, Ginny pulled him into a hug and whispered into his ear.

"I love you Harry. Please hurry back after detention. I want to spend time with my new boyfriend while NOT being in the Hospital Wing." said Ginny.

"I love you too Gin. Don't worry my love. I have no intention of going anywhere else afterwards and would love to spend time with you as well." said Harry.

After one final kiss goodbye, Harry left the common room and headed over to the headmaster's office. No matter the punishment, Harry would get through it because he had one thing that made him extremely happy. He knew dating Ginny was a dream come true and vowed to never let her go no matter what.

 **(Three Years Later)**

Harry Potter was standing outside of the Burrow with Ron and Hermione while waiting for the ceremony to start. Harry needed his friends right now because despite the fact that he tried his best to appear confident, inside he was filled with worry and was slowly losing his mind.

"Ron. Hermione. I don't think I can do this. Is it too late to call the whole thing off?" said Harry

Hermione was taken aback by what her best friend had said, but it was Ron who decided to speak up. "Harry don't you DARE even think of calling this off. I don't care if Voldemort returns from the grave and brings a hoard of undead Death Eaters with him to stop this wedding. It'll happen today no matter what. I would suggest keeping your opinions to yourself. You're lucky I approve of you marrying my sister because if not you would be in a world of hurt!"

"Well said Ron. Although Voldemort returning in any form is actually laughable now considering we all destroyed his horcruxes and made sure he would no longer come back" said Hermione.

After rolling his eyes at Hermione, Harry turned to Ron and said "So me being your best friend for years has nothing to do with you approving of our relationship, Ron?"

"Well… I mean… You're not a completely terrible choice for Ginny is all."

"Wow so glad you approve Ron." said Harry.

"Look Harry, best friend or not, you even think of ending this wedding and I will make sure that every single day of your life will be filled with pain and misery." said Ron.

"Even though I don't normally agree with Ron, I would listen to him today Harry. He seems to be hitting all the right notes somehow." said Hermione.

"Hey Hermione why are you sticking up for him all of a sudden? He may be your fiancé, but that doesn't mean you should take his side! I mean I'm practically your brother! Blood is thicker than water!" said Harry.

Hermione swatted his arm and said "Prat." With that she began walking off to the tent to see if anything else needed to be done before the ceremony began. Ron began following her which left Harry by himself and his own thoughts.

 _"Do I really want to marry Ginny? Maybe it's not too late to call this whole thing off. Wait. Why would I even say that? Of course I love Ginny! I love her with all my heart and soul, but why am I so nervous? Maybe this is what the muggles call "cold feet". I really need something strong to get over this feeling. Thank god the age of adulthood is 17 in this world."_ Harry thought.

With that Harry began walking over to the open bar area. Before he could attempt to order anything, Harry had a crazy idea that just might help him in getting over the nerves he was feeling. Harry dashed into the Burrow and nearly ran into Mrs. Weasley in the process.

"Harry you're not supposed to be in here! It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding starts!" said Mrs Weasley.

"I know Mrs. Weasley but I really needed to get something from my room. This is really important and I wouldn't risk the bad luck but there is something I really have to do!" exclaimed Harry.

"Okay Harry dear but please DO NOT go anywhere except for your room. Promise?" asked Mrs. Weasley

"Yes I promise." said Harry. After the Weasley mother nodded, Harry sprinted up the stairs and could hear Ginny's bridesmaids getting her ready for the big day. If he had stayed there a moment longer, Harry would have been in trouble with them and didn't want to get thrown out without obtaining what he so desperately desired.

Harry approached his door and opened the door in a flash. Next was to find his trunk from school and that would prove to be quite a task considering Harry didn't keep his room in the most pristine condition. After a few minutes of searching, Harry gave up and reached for his wand. "Accio Trunk!" shouted Harry. Instantly the trunk rose from the depths of the mess in the room and shifted itself just a few inches from Harry's feet.

 _"Great. Now I just have to hope and pray that it's still there!"_ thought Harry.

Harry checked every single compartment and hiding spot within his trunk but was not able to find what he was looking for. This made no sense to Harry because he specifically remembered hiding it in his trunk for emergencies just like this. _"Wait. Emergencies…."_ thought Harry. Was it possible that he could have hidden it inside of Hermione's endless bag during their year long quest? Without thinking about it too hard, Harry pointed his wand into Ron's room across the hall and muttered "Accio bag!". With that, Hermione's bag flew through the air and hit him in the face so hard that it made a loud **SMACK** sound.

"SON OF A .. Urggggh that hurt!" said Harry. The bag left a little bit of an impression on the right side of his face, to which Harry fixed immediately thanks to his medical training from Hermione on their journey. "What's in there anyways? Oh wait nevermind. Well it still shouldn't feel like an anvil struck me in the face since it's so light! I will never understand magic sometimes!"

Harry picked up the bag and used the Accio spell once more to find his copy of _Hogwarts, A History_. _"Okay here goes nothing!"_ thought Harry. The back part of the book was opened to reveal a hidden compartment inside but unfortunately there was nothing contained within the book.

 _"Oh no. I must have used it sometime in the last few years."_ thought Harry. _"It must have been for something important then. Did I use it to propose to Ginny? No no I remember giving it to Hermione to hang on to just in case I decided I needed it after all. Did I ever get it back from her? Yes. I did a few days later. Did I give it to someone else? I don't think I did. What did I use it for then? There's no way I would use it for something so trivial, especially after what happened last time. I promised to only use this in case of emergencies and THIS is an emergency! How can I possibly go out there without some form of luck on my side?"_

Harry was upset that he did not find the small potion of Felix Felicis inside of the book, but realized it was for the best anyways. All those years ago when Professor Slughorn had given him a second vial, he vowed to not use it unless something important came up, or if his life was in grave danger.

"Well whatever it was used for had better of been worth it." said Harry.

Feeling somewhat defeated, Harry returned outside and waited anxiously for the wedding to start. It was only a short time later that everyone was ready and the ceremony would start to commence. Thankfully the even was smaller than Harry was expecting, and only friends of both parties were invited so the event felt more homey. That didn't mean reporters weren't trying to get in every second that they could however. After a few reporters snuck their way in the first time during the set up of the ceremony, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the current Minster of Magic, gathered about 15 different Aurors to cast charms and spells around the Burrow so that no one that wasn't invited could get in.

As everyone took their seats, Harry stood at the altar with his groomsmen Ron Weasley, George Weasley, and Neville Longbottom (who was overjoyed to even be invited at this point) while the bridesmaids Hermione Granger, Angelina Johnson, and Luna Lovegood, who were all looking beautiful in their dresses, took the other side of the altar.

As the music began playing, Harry almost fainted once he saw Ginny being escorted down the isle by her father, Arthur Weasley. Her dress was simple yet elegant and the way her hair and makeup were done made Harry thankful that they were getting married because most of the single men in the audience were drooling in response to her beauty. As Ginny reached the altar, Harry was able to get an extremely great view of the way his fiancé looked, and he too had to muster the strength of all the wizarding world not to join in with the single men in the crowd and drool as well. When he realized that the priest was trying to snap him out of the daze he was in, Ginny laughed a little and the ceremony continued as normal.

Saying their "I do's" passed by way too quickly for both Harry and Ginny, but they vowed to use a pensive later on to view this memory again. Once the happy couple cut the cake, and everyone was fed, the dance floor was open to everyone and Harry instantly wanted to escort his beautiful bride into the first dance of the night. Ginny smirked at Harry for his tenacity and accepted his hand for the first dance. The music began and the two of them seemed to glide across the dance floor with everyone staring in awe.

Harry however was confused. He had spent weeks trying to get his dancing right for Ginny at their wedding, but he proved to be clumsy and would trip more often than not. However tonight he seemed to be on airs and floated along with his bride. There were a few times where Harry wanted to ask Ginny what was happening, but she hushed him and told him to not think to hard about it. It was after their first dance, and the happy couple starting their next one, that Ginny finally said something to Harry.

"Harry I have to tell you something. I don't want you to overreact but if I don't say it now, it may ruin the beginning of our marriage later." said a very nervous Ginny.

Harry had a feeling what Ginny was going to say, but decided against it and wanted to see if he was right. "Go ahead my love." said Harry.

Ginny beamed with happiness at her husband and began speaking once again. "Harry I used your vial of Felix Felicis earlier today. I don't want you to worry because I took the whole thing so that way nothing bad could happen. Are you upset with me? I really needed it for today!" said Ginny.

Harry laughed a little. "Ginny, my love, I am so glad you told me. I had a feeling that Felix was at work considering we both know I am absolutely horrible when it comes to dancing. Plus nothing, and I repeat nothing, has gone wrong today and since we have had numerous issues leading up to our wedding with the planning details, I am so glad everything is going astoundingly well today. I am not mad whatsoever with you, and to be honest I was planning on using it today because I needed everything to be perfect for not just you, but for this special day as well." said Harry.

Ginny stopped dancing with Harry and pulled him into a kiss that shook her to the core. After releasing her husband, and receiving some cat calls from the crowd, Ginny lead Harry over to an empty table and proceeded to ask him something.

"Harry are you sure you're okay with me taking the potion? I know it's not a big deal, but after what happened last time, I just didn't want to worry you." said Ginny.

"Gin you have no reason to be afraid. I'm really glad you told me. I don't want you to think that just because today is perfect, it will mean that our marriage will suffer without Felix Felicis in our lives. True it will be hard, and we may even scream and yell at one another sometimes, but I meant what I said all those years ago when we got together. I never want to let you go and I always want to be with you." said Harry.

Ginny stood and took Harry over to the dance floor once again. They danced long into the evening as everyone was leaving and the event seemed to be winding down. Ginny knew things would be amazing with her new husband, and he felt the same with her. The two of them were perfectly happy with how everything that turned out and vowed to not use Felix Felicis again despite having the best day of their lives. From that point on, they would make their own luck and that was enough for them.

 **THE END**


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